Arsenal weigh £130m move for Alvarez as Barcelona snub fuels Atletico exit

Julian Alvarez’s future at Atletico Madrid is approaching a breaking point, with Arsenal ready to table a £130 million offer for the Argentina striker — provided he is willing to shelve his desire to join Barcelona before the transfer window closes next Tuesday.

The 25-year-old was booed by Atletico supporters last weekend after publicly signalling his wish to leave the club, with Barcelona his stated preference. That public fallout has deepened tensions with the Atletico hierarchy, and the coming days are expected to be decisive in determining whether the club holds firm or agrees to sell.

Arsenal are monitoring the situation closely and will move if they receive encouragement from either Atletico or Alvarez himself. Manager Mikel Arteta is understood to be a significant admirer of the forward, but the club are not prepared to overpay and are clear-eyed about the difficulty of completing a deal of this scale in such a compressed timeframe.

The Gunners are simultaneously managing several outgoings. Gabriel Martinelli is in the process of joining Al Hilal for £50 million, while the club are also seeking to offload Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, and Reiss Nelson before the window shuts. There remains a genuine possibility that all four depart without a high-profile arrival to replace them — with Alvarez now representing the only realistic marquee signing Arsenal are pursuing.

Arsenal have already been active this summer, bringing in Bruno Guimarães, Christos Tzolis, and Ezri Jones to strengthen a squad that claimed the title last season. Should Alvarez not arrive, the club believe their existing forward options — including Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka, Tzolis, Noni Madueke, and Max Dowman — provide sufficient depth. Ethan Nwaneri is also being considered for a loan move to another Premier League club.