Arsenal needs a forwardArsenal needs a forward
Arsenal needs a forward | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Arsenal are being linked with a move for a pricey forward who could tick two big boxes.
Arsenal could move to offer a former Premier League player a return to England’s top flight. The Gunners are on the lookout for attackers this summer, needing a striker and a winger as they look to build a squad capable of competing for the title.
According to Marca, the Gunners like the look of Julian Alvarez, who has only been with Manchester City for a season so far, helping them to finish third. The 25-year-old scored a whopping 29 goals this season, also contributing seven assists. The Argentine cost just shy of £80million including add-ons, with Manchester City bringing in big money from the sale.
Pep Guardiola may have ultimately felt let down by Alvarez, who pushed for a move at the back end of his City career, but the Spaniard spoke highly of the striker, once saying: “If you play almost all the games to be world champion with Argentina, where there are a thousand, million exceptional players and if he is able to play there it is because he has something unique. But he helped me a lot to understand that maybe in the future I have to adjust something to make them both, and Kevin (De Bruyne), to make them play.
“Because especially in tight games with five in the back to have them involved there it is so important for us, really really important for us. It’s not just the goal and the penalty, but it is the intensity in the pressure. It is keeping the ball, it is the vision because he is an incredible, exceptional player, not just scoring goals. He knows exactly where are the other players and the movements, everything he does.”
Alvarez could tick two Arsenal boxes
Alvarez would be an expensive signing for Arsenal, likely to cost at least £90million if not £100million this summer. Atletico invested big and they are not likely to sell for less than a significant profit given the forward’s tremendous scoring return this season.
But Arsenal will have to spend big to get a striker and a winger, and so they could tick two boxes with one signing, with Alvarez able to play as a centre-forward and a winger. They would also be getting a player well versed in the Premier League, with the Argentine already showing that he can hack it in England’s top division.
He scored 20 goals in 67 league appearances for City and all before he turned 25. Almost every one of the other players Arsenal have been linked with would be arriving without that experience and proven ability, making Alvarez an attractive signing for Arteta and Berta.
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