Arsenal are back in the mix to sign Atlético Madrid’s Julián Álvarez, after giving on the striker.
Over the past few months, the Gunners, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona have shown interest.
On June 24th, Sport Witness relayed news of Atlético giving priority to Arsenal or PSG over Barcelona. The former had a public fallout with the La Liga winners over the 26-year-old and want to avoid selling him to Barca.
The Argentina international wants a Camp Nou move. This saw Mikel Arteta’s side initially give up on him before reentering the battle.
Atlético’s financial situation
On Monday, Sport Witness covered claims from Argentina that Arsenal intend to intensify their efforts after the World Cup.
Tuesday’s edition of Sport mentions Arsenal’s interest in a report focusing on why Hansi Flick’s side are optimistic of Atlético Madrid selling Julián Álvarez this summer.
Los Rojiblancos have signed Morten Hjulmand and Alejandro Grimaldo and are closing in on PSG’s Lee Kang-in.
Sport explain they have to raise funds through player sales to balance their books. Their idea was to cash on Thiago Almada, Alexander Sørloth, José María Giménez and Matteo Ruggeri.
Almada is likely to join River Plate for €20m while there are no concrete movements yet with others. At this time, Sport insist selling the former Manchester City man would be the only solution for Diego Simeone’s side.
Barcelona are confident their La Liga counterpart will soften their stance on the Argentine after the World Cup.
Arsenal not giving up
Julián Álvarez’s suitors like Arsenal and the Catalan club are monitoring the situation and are waiting for the World Cup to make further advances.
Barca president Joan Laporta has already confirmed making an offer for the 26-year-old and won’t improve it.
At the Camp Nou, there’s belief Atlético Madrid have no choice but to accept their proposal.
Hansi Flick’s side assume the Gunners are not a serious threat.
The newspaper states: ‘[Barca] understand that Arsenal’s moves regarding Julián are driven more by Atlético’s need to sell and create a bidding war for the player, but they’re not going to get involved.’
The player wants to join the Blaugrana, and this gives them an advantage over Arsenal.
To sum up Sport’s report, Barca are confident Atlético will sell Álvarez, who wants to join them. They also believe Arsenal’s interest is driven more by the Madrid club.
There would be more developments next week, after the World Cup.