Arsenal offered Julian Alvarez transfer hope with striker ‘unhappy’ in Madrid | Football | Sport

Arsenal have been offered hope of signing Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez after reports emerged that the Spanish side are set to land Ademola Lookman. The Gunners have been tracking the 26-year-old in recent weeks and are contemplating a possible bid at the end of the season. Certain reports have even hinted that Mikel Arteta’s team might offer Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus as part of a swap deal for Alvarez.

Whilst such a scenario seems unlikely at this stage, there does appear to be genuine interest from the north London outfit. Any prospective deal for the Argentine won’t come to fruition until the summer and is anticipated to be complex, with Atletico keen to keep hold of him. Nevertheless, Arsenal may have been handed an advantage after Atletico confirmed that Lookman – a previous Gunners target – is poised to join them in a £30million move from Atalanta. Tottenham had also been pursuing the attacker but have been beaten to his signature.

The Nigerian international primarily functions as a support striker but can spearhead the attack, suggesting he could offer Atletico a suitable successor should the exit-linked Alvarez depart. Atletico Madrid also boast Alexander Sorloth in their ranks, with the Norwegian having scored an identical number of La Liga goals (seven) to Alvarez this season.

While striking a deal for Alvarez poses considerable obstacles, having Lookman and Sorloth in their ranks will certainly provide Atletico with some comfort should talks become essential for the ex-Manchester City striker.

ESPN reports that the Spanish outfit would demand a sum surpassing £86million to even consider parting ways with the player, who is also a target for Barcelona. Fresh optimism surfaced last week when Gary Lineker disclosed on the Rest is Football podcast that the Argentine was dissatisfied in Madrid.

He said: “I saw they were linked with Julian Alvarez, who I know is not entirely happy with life at Atletico.. Now that is the sort of player you know can handle the big occasion – he’s a World Cup winner for crying out loud.

“Someone like that at Arsenal would be game over. But they do need one or two of these current forwards to start scoring on a reasonably regular basis.”

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has previously suggested the club are prepared to tackle their injury woes by targeting fresh acquisitions in January. However, little movement has taken place so far, and any major deals before Monday’s 7pm deadline seem unlikely at present.

Speaking last month, the Spaniard said: “The window is there and I mean we’re Arsenal and we have to be looking at it; ‘Okay, what do we need’? And we have to be actively looking and then, whether we can do it or not… that’s a different story. But our job is to always be very prepared because something can happen, so hopefully it’ll be very positive.

“When you look across the other clubs, they have 24 or 25 squad players. Although we have had more injuries than expected, some of them not avoidable.

“We want to be better and we know how important the part of having the right availability with players is going to be this season.”

Nevertheless, Sky Germany caused a shock on Monday morning by reporting that the Gunners were ‘pushing’ aggressively to secure Newcastle star Sandro Tonali.

However, Newcastle have quickly rubbished any suggestion that a deal for Tonali is possible. Concerning Arsenal’s summer transfer plans, Andrea Berta is thought to be monitoring young defenders alongside Alvarez, with Real Madrid’s Victor Valdepenas surfacing as a name strongly associated with a possible switch.