Atletico Madrid have agreed to sell Julian Alvarez to Arsenal before the summer transfer window closes, but the striker is still determined to sign for Barcelona instead.
Arsenal's pursuit of Alvarez
The Argentina international has been regarded as a dream signing at the Emirates, with Mikel Arteta said to have personally reached out to the 26-year-old to try and convince him to return to the Premier League. However, the former Manchester City star prefers a move to Barcelona, revealing his hopes of making his move to the Camp Nou during the World Cup.
Barcelona have repeatedly angered Atletico with their pursuit of the striker, with Diego Simeone's side determined not to do business with them, having already rejected an opening bid of €100million (£86.4m).
Atletico's stance and conditions
Atletico do not want to do business with Barcelona this summer and want to keep Alvarez at all costs. But reports have claimed Atletico would demand up to €150million (£130m) if forced to let him go. With Atletico's La Liga campaign to begin on Sunday against Villarreal, Mundo Deportivo report the situation has now reached an 'untenable' stage.
With Alvarez still determined to leave, the club's management has agreed to enter transfer negotiations but on one condition: only with Arsenal and not Barcelona. As it stands, however, Alvarez's position has not changed, and he remains determined to move to the Camp Nou.
Replacement and Simeone's comments
With just over a week of the summer transfer window remaining, Atletico would also find themselves in the difficult position of having to find a replacement for Alvarez. Reports in Spain have suggested Arsenal would be willing to include their striker Victor Gyokeres plus €60m (£51.7m) to solve that problem.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone has publicly reiterated Atletico's firm stance leading into the new season. 'The situation is very clear, the club made a decision that Miguel Angel [Gil Marin] explained very well,' Simeone said last week. 'From the sporting side, we are very happy to have a player like Julian, and from a sporting perspective we will help him to continue growing, to continue improving, and to give us back what he has given us over these two years, which was a great deal. We have some precedents, we already saw what happened with Griezmann, I don't see any other way than to work from a sporting perspective as we have to and try to help as we have done these past two years.'
