Julian Alvarez can be the "special, special" player Arsenal are missing in attack, says former Gunners player John Halls, as the club works to bring the former Manchester City player back to the Premier League.
Atletico Madrid are said to be open to talks in a bid to stop the wantaway player joining rivals Barcelona. It will be a tough deal to pull off, with Atletico reportedly giving Alvarez until Sunday evening - two days before the summer transfer window shuts - to resolve his future.
Arteta driving Arsenal's interest
Mikel Arteta is reportedly driving Arsenal's interest as he wants to upgrade an attack which at times last season underwhelmed despite the Gunners' Premier League title success.
Halls, who came through the ranks at Arsenal in the early 2000s, believes Alvarez is a clear upgrade in attack.
Halls: 'I love Alvarez'
Halls, speaking exclusively to Standard Sport, via casino.net, said: "I love Alvarez and would love him to sign ... by the sounds of it, Atleti won't sell to Barca, so that leaves us at the moment, right? So this is now getting a little bit more real!"
"I loved the boy when he was at City. He was great. He can score some goals [and] can strike a ball, we know that, and we can get a bit of creative play out of him as well. You can play him in numerous amounts of positions, but I'd love to play him in that No9 role."
"As much as I love, [Kai] Havertz and [Viktor] Gyokeres, we missed something special there, and he's that special, special player that might go and get us 25 to 30 goals a season."
A perfect fit for Arsenal's philosophy
Asked if Alvarez is a better fit for Arsenal's footballing philosophy, Halls said: "When you have that sort of No9 dropping in a little bit, you can get the wingers running in behind, running across the line, which creates more problems."
"Just knowing that we can get the ball into [Alvarez's] feet, and he can do a little bit of magic, and he can link up with [Odegaard]."
"He could slot right into that team beautifully. Like we always say, he's played the Prem, he knows what it's like so he could be up and running quickly."
