Arsenal discover Alvarez price tag as Atletico Madrid perform U-turn on transfer

Atletico Madrid internally believe that the only way Julian Alvarez will leave this summer is if Arsenal sign him - despite previously being adamant he wouldn't be sold.

Alvarez faced a hostile reception as Atletico played at home over the weekend with the Argentine making it clear that he wants to leave the Spanish capital. He's made it known, without naming them, that his "dream" would be to join Barcelona.

Atletico though are adamant they will not sell to a fellow La Liga rival, which leaves Barcelona's hopes of signing the forward extremely unlikely. Real Madrid expressed an interest earlier this summer, but Atletico didn't believe their offer to be genuine.

Arsenal are the only non-Spanish side interested as they look to add star quality in the final third. The Athletic has been told that the only scenario Atletico foresee which ends with Alvarez leaving would be if Arsenal made a €150million (£128m) offer.

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It appears unlikely that the Gunners, despite their continued investment in their squad, would table such a bid. Arsenal have Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus as genuine No.9s, although the latter is tipped to leave. Kai Havertz is more of a false 9 and is currently the preferred option to lead the attack.

Gary Neville claimed on Sky Sports that adding Alvarez would see the likes of Martin Odegaard go to another level, given the way the Argentine would change the dynamic of the team's attack.

Despite the toxicity that was evident during Atletico's clash at the weekend, Diego Simeone underlined the need for the club to be united if they want to win titles.

He said: “I’m not here to give advice. What I have to do is concentrate on my work, which is, from a sporting sense, to give my best for Atletico Madrid. The only thing I know is that if Atletico Madrid want to win a title, we need to be together, we need to have forwards, and we need to have important forwards. And for that, we need to work on it as a result, everyone, on what we need.”

Goalkeeper Jan Oblak echoed that as he told DAZN: “Julian is here, he’s with us in the team and while he’s with us, we’re going to support him and we want him in the best way. Unfortunately, it’s a situation that isn’t comfortable for anyone, but hopefully all that is sorted out and at the end of the season we can all be happy.”

Atletico’s refusal to engage in talks with Barcelona has forced their sporting director Deco to eye up other striking options. Last week he maintained that the Catalans would sign a striker, especially after the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.

He told local outlet TV3: “We have solutions in the team (for the central striker role), but we will probably make a move before the end of the transfer window." Reports claim Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez is on their shortlist, but the Italian side see their captain as an unsellable asset.

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