Arsenal stance on signing Julian Alvarez after Argentina star drops transfer bombshell

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Arsenal target Julian Alvarez wants to join Barcelona and only Barcelona after communicating his desire to leave Atletico Madrid.

After weeks of speculation, which included a monstrous £129million rejected transfer bid from Real Madrid , Alvarez has now publicly spelled declared that he is keen to pursue a new challenge.

While he did not mention Barcelona by name, they are his primary destination of choice and he's hopeful the two clubs will be able to reach an agreement over his services.

Barca have already had one proposal, worth £86.4m, rebuffed. That sparked a series of ugly statements from Atleti, who insisted that the player had a long-term contract and that they would not sell to their rivals.

Ideally, if Atleti were to offload Alvarez, they would favour doing business with a non-Spanish side but Alvarez is not keen on a return to England where he already won two Premier League titles plus numerous other trophies with Manchester City .

PSG would also be ready to make a big financial commitment to sign Alvarez should he signal his willingness to move to France . That is currently viewed as unlikely, also.

Mirror Football understands that Arsenal have already pushed hard to sign Alvarez this summer, per sources with knowledge of the secret talks that took place with Barca chief Deco at the Torre Melina hotel in Catalonia on May 27.

During those conversations, it was mentioned that the Premier League champions were trying to land Alvarez, who was previously signed by Gunners sporting director Andrea Berta at Atletico.

Politely, the Premier League champions were told by the player's camp that he is desperate to join Barca and was not willing to consider rival offers.

After a prolonged period of silence, Alvarez has now made it clear he wants out of Atletico, where he has a contract until 2030.

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He said at the AT&T Stadium after Lionel Messi's double downed Austria : “This isn’t the time to talk about this, but I can’t hide either; I try to be an honest person. I spoke with the people at Atlético Madrid, and I think the best thing for everyone is a transfer. I want to fulfil my dream.”

Mirror Football also understands Alvarez's long-standing agent Fernando Hidalgo is currently supporting his client in North America.

Arsenal were also previously interested in signing the 26-year-old when he departed Manchester City but he is keen to remain in Spain having failed to win a trophy in either of his first two seasons with Atletico.

His relationship with boss Diego Simeone is said to have deteriorated and equally, he is believed to be frustrated by the way he was treated after putting his body on the line in the Champions League semi-final against the Gunners.

Alvarez rolled his ankle during the first leg and required an injection to play in the return fixture at the Emirates and because of that issue, he was not deemed fit enough to start Argentina's World Cup opener against Algeria in Kansas City.

Arsenal's only chance of landing Alvarez now is if Barcelona cannot agree on a deal and the situation becomes so untenable that Alvarez wants out of Atletico at all costs.