Arsenal gets the go-ahead to sign Julian Alvarez as Atletico Madrid responds with a strong statement
Arsenal have now become the main team in the race to sign Julian Alvarez after Atletico Madrid spoke out against Barcelona’s moves to sign him.
Alvarez wants to leave Atletico Madrid before the transfer window closes, as he sees no future for himself there. The Argentine player has been clear that his dream is to join Barcelona.
On Sunday, Alvarez faced a tough reaction from Atletico fans at the Metropolitano Stadium during their 2-2 draw with Villarreal. When he came on in the 66th minute, the crowd loudly whistled, and he looked upset sitting on the bench.
He missed training on Wednesday because he wasn’t feeling well, and everyone agrees that the best outcome is for him to leave—but only if the price is right. Earlier this summer, Barcelona offered €100m (£85.7m) for the World Cup winner, but Atletico rejected it straight away.
Real Madrid also made a huge €150m (£130m) bid, after their president Florentino Perez promised to sign a “Galactico” if reelected, but they have since backed off. Barcelona, however, are still trying hard. Club president Joan Laporta has publicly said they want to stick to their offer and reach an agreement with Atletico.
Laporta told Barça’s official channels on Wednesday, “We’re keeping hope alive and sticking to our plan, with all respect to Atletico. We want to sign him and would love to find an agreement. We do this with the utmost respect for Atletico and their leaders.”
In response, Atletico released a statement saying there is zero chance they will sell Alvarez to Barcelona. They said, “This isn’t about money, it’s about respect. The player is being treated unfairly, but the real victim is Atletico. Barcelona has hurt us both financially and socially. There’s no chance we’ll sell him to Barca. There’s a lot of lies out there, and Atletico is the one paying the price.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal is the big winner in this drama. Alvarez is exactly what manager Mikel Arteta wants, and he believes Alvarez could be the final piece in an already impressive transfer window. The difficulty is convincing the Argentine, who truly wants to join Barcelona.
To get Alvarez, Arsenal would need to break their transfer record, but they seem ready to do that. If Alvarez agrees, the Gunners could be very busy in the last six days of the transfer window.