Max Dowman, Julian Alvarez, and Anthony Gordon (Photo by James Fearn, Florencia Tan Jun, Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Julian Alvarez looks like just what Arsenal need, but is it realistic?
I’ve seen the Julian Alvarez links and I’ve had lots of Arsenal fans asking me about them. But I have to admit, I would be surprised if there is much to this other than speculation.
The reports have emerged from Spain and suggest that Arsenal are the club ‘pushing the hardest’ for Alvarez, but I just can’t see it myself.
Don’t get me wrong, I think he would be a great signing for Arsenal. He would bring something to the attack that Mikel Arteta currently does not have. He’s a live wire, someone who doesn’t stop pulling defenders out of position. He would add some chaos to how Arsenal play and I do think the squad needs that.
I think back to when Gabriel Jesus first arrived and that’s exactly what he offered in those early months when he ‘changed Arsenal’s world’, to use a quote once used by Mikel Arteta.
I see a lot of what we saw in Jesus in those first few months before his injury at the World Cup in what Alvarez would bring, which is why it is a move that would appeal to me.
But it all just feels a bit fanciful to me.
First of all Alvarez is very happy in Spain by all accounts, he’s loving it over there and is not exactly pining for a return to the Premier League.
And then there is the money involved. Players like Benjamin Sesko or Viktor Gyokeres would not come cheap, but they would still be significantly cheaper than Alvarez would be, should he move on from Atletico.
Julian Alvarez celebrates a goal for Atletico Madrid against Real Betis (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
They spent around £80 million to sign him from Manchester City last summer and he’s been a huge success since that move. So it would take a huge fee to prize him away from the Spanish capital.
So I just don’t really see this one having much legs, as exciting a prospect as it may…
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