Arsenal are monitoring Man City striker Julian Alvarez as interest grows in the Argentina international, according to reports.
The Gunners have made two signings so far this summer with former loanee David Raya joining on a permanent basis from Brentford, while Riccardo Calafiori has arrived from Bologna.
Arsenal are looking hard to find a new striker with regular speculation that Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen could join.
And now it seems that there could be another potential option for Mikel Arteta as he looks to take his Gunners side one better next season after missing out on the Premier League title by two points last term.
Many pundits and former players feel that Arsenal are just a clinical striker away from winning the title after Man City won their fourth consecutive championship under Pep Guardiola.
Arteta has already gone back to his former club on two occasions by bringing Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus to the Emirates Stadium in the summer of 2022.
And now the Daily Mirror claim that Arsenal are on ‘red alert’ and ‘monitoring Julian Alvarez’s fall-out with Pep Guardiola’ with the Argentina international set to decide his future after the Olympics.
‘City’s Catalan boss’ stance that he will never prevent an unhappy player from leaving could open the door for Mikel Arteta to raid his former club for a third time following the arrivals of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko – but it would have to be at the right price.
‘Suggestions from the Etihad that the Premier League champions will demand a deal, including add-ons, of around £80million for the Argentine World Cup winner would be too rich for the Londoners.
‘But they would have funds to put a significant bid on the table if homegrown duo Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson follow Emile Smith Rowe out of the club.’
But Football Insider insist that ottenham ‘could hijack’ any deal for Osimhen as former Everton CEO Keith Wyness claims he “wouldn’t be surprised” to see Spurs in for the Napoli striker.
Wyness told Football Insider: “The number nine, for me, is the difference in the top four race.
“With the present squad, I think they’re still going to be lucky to qualify for Europe. There are a lot of clubs making big moves. They’re going to have to make that big signing.
“Archie Gray is a great talent, but that’s not the answer. There needs to be someone – like an Osimhen – to come in.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Spurs are looking at and keeping themselves informed on Osimhen’s situation at Napoli. He’s one they need to keep their eyes on.”
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealed yesterday that Arsenal are close to one deal with the Gunners “closing in” on the signing of Spain international Mikel Merino.
Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “Let me say that Arsenal are really closing in on the deal for Mikel Merino and let me clarify that the package is going to be something around €30m.
“We’ll understand in the structure of the deal in the next days, but the agreement between Arsenal and Real Sociedad is really, really close. Everything is proceeding to the final stages.
“Let me also mention another Mikel Arteta.
“We know he is discussing a contract extension that Arsenal expect to be done soon. The Spaniard is really influential in the market for Arsenal, together with Edu Gaspar, and Arteta is working a lot behind the scenes in terms of suggesting moves.
“It was he who wanted Riccardo Calafiori as a priority target, and given that he’s now at Arsenal, the club clearly did an excellent job.
“Arteta is also behind this story for Mikel Merino because he knows the player so well, and has been monitoring him for a long time.
“Of course, people from the board and the scouting scouting department at Arsenal also believe that signing Merino is a perfect opportunity. Merino is therefore expected to be Arsenal’s second signing of this summer’s transfer window.
“Despite some fairly strong rumours too, honestly, I have no concrete updates on Viktor Gyökeres.”
