Arsenal's Pursuit of Julián Álvarez: Will He Choose Barcelona?

Arsenal are racing the clock to convince Julián Álvarez to swap Madrid for north London, even as they rip up and rebuild their forward line with sales worth more than £70m.

Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Fábio Vieira are all heading for the exit. The money is there. The space in the squad is there. The problem is Álvarez doesn’t want it.

Álvarez fixated on Barcelona

The Argentina international has made it clear he wants Barcelona and nobody else. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke to Álvarez last week, pushing the idea of a Premier League return for the former Manchester City striker. The answer was blunt: Barcelona or nothing.

That stance has not shifted despite Atlético Madrid’s refusal to sell to their La Liga rivals. Álvarez, left out of the squad for the win over Sevilla, reported back to training on Sunday with his future still tangled between his own wishes and his club’s hard line.

Barcelona, for their part, have already struck a deal with Arsenal for Jesus. An £8.6m fee has been agreed for the Brazilian, who is in the final year of his contract and has slipped behind Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyökeres in the pecking order at the Emirates.

Selling Ferran Torres to Paris Saint-Germain has left the Spanish champions wanting at least one more attacker. They have not abandoned the Álvarez chase, even with Atlético digging in.

Atlético reinforce but refuse to bend

Atlético have moved to protect themselves in attack. They have an agreement with Juventus for Jonathan David on an initial loan, with an option to make the Canada forward’s move permanent next summer.

That deal does not mean Álvarez is being pushed out. Quite the opposite. Atlético are understood to be determined to keep the 26-year-old, who only arrived from Manchester City in 2024 and is seen as central to their plans.

So Arsenal wait. And hope. Publicly calm, privately aware that time and the player’s own preference are against them.

Arsenal’s attacking reset

Arsenal’s rebuild in the final third is already under way. Christos Tzolis has arrived to cover the left side after Leandro Trossard’s departure, but Martinelli’s imminent move to Al-Hilal will tear a much bigger hole in Arteta’s front line.

The Brazilian is set to join the Saudi Pro League club for a club-record £56m fee. He is due for a medical on Monday after being left out of the squad for the opening-weekend win over Coventry. Six Champions League goals last season underlined his pedigree, yet he found the net only once in the Premier League. Arsenal have chosen to cash in at the peak of his market.

That £56m surpasses the £40m Liverpool paid for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2017, underlining the scale of the gamble Arsenal are taking as they reshape the squad.

Eberechi Eze offers one in-house solution on the left, capable of drifting wide or playing between the lines, but the club want another specialist forward to complement him. Álvarez is the first choice. He just doesn’t see Arsenal as his first choice.

Targets missed and options narrowing

The market has not been kind to Arsenal so far. Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye featured on their shortlist, only for Tottenham to steal a march and enter advanced talks over a £60m deal for the Senegal forward.

Morgan Rogers slipped away to Chelsea. An ambitious move for Vinícius Júnior never got off the ground, the Brazil star signing a contract extension at Real Madrid and closing that door for the foreseeable future.

Each miss increases the pressure on the Álvarez pursuit. Arsenal remain hopeful the player could yet reconsider if Barcelona cannot break Atlético’s resistance, but they are also tracking alternative forwards in case the stalemate holds.

Vieira’s future settled

One outgoing is close to resolution. Fábio Vieira is poised to join Hamburg permanently after his loan spell there last season, with a fee of £8.6m agreed. It is another piece of business that trims the squad and adds to the transfer pot, but also nudges Arsenal closer to the point where they must land a marquee attacker or face starting the season light in the most unforgiving area of the pitch.

So Arsenal wait on Álvarez, locked between a player’s dream of Barcelona and a club in Madrid that refuses to sell. How long can Arteta gamble on a change of heart before he turns to Plan B—and is there a Plan B of the same calibre left in this market?