Mikel Arteta has reportedly contacted Julian Alvarez over a possible move to Arsenal, according to Diario AS. The Atletico Madrid forward has been strongly linked with an exit this summer, but his dream move to Barcelona appears off the table, opening the door to a switch to north London.
The Argentine was previously only interested in joining the La Liga champions if he left Atletico, but it has been claimed in Spain that he is now open to joining Arsenal, who are looking to sign a marquee attacker.
Arteta's response on Alvarez
Alvarez was recently jeered by his own supporters during Atletico's opening league fixture of the new season, which he was omitted from. When quizzed on Alvarez in his latest press conference, Arteta said: "As I said, I'm really happy with the squad that we have, and the main focus is to improve the players that we already have because we already have a lot of good teams."
Arteta has already strengthened his Arsenal squad considerably this summer. Ezri Konsa was the latest arrival, following his £51million switch from Aston Villa.
Arsenal's summer signings
The Gunners' most eye-catching signing of the summer was the £75million acquisition of Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes, who joined after Piero Hincapie and Christos Tzolis were also recruited. Hincapie completed a permanent deal from Bayer Leverkusen having spent last season on loan at the Gunners.
Ahead of Arsenal's 3-0 victory over Coventry City in the opening fixture of their Premier League title defence, Arteta emphasised the Gunners remain on the lookout for fresh faces.
Arteta on Konsa's arrival
When questioned about Konsa's signing, the Arsenal boss said: "We needed one more player, we had seven players in the defensive line, we know that that's not enough. We have two long-term injuries, one with Jurrien (Timber), and one with Willy (Saliba)."
"And we wanted someone that didn't have the qualities that we already have, so somebody ideally with experience, because as a centre-back in this league you cannot play jokes, we know how important that position is, and I think Ezri brings a lot of qualities that we needed."
Arsenal kicked off their campaign in impressive style. Goals from Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard delivered a commanding 3-0 triumph over Coventry at the Emirates Stadium.
Coming out of the clash, Gabriel Martinelli has been a trending topic after Ian Wright's bombshell claims regarding his uncertain future after again being left out of the squad. Martinelli has been linked with a move to Inter Milan after rejecting a move to Galatasaray, and any exit could potentially fund Arsenal's move for Alvarez.
