Arsenal's Striker Pursuit: Will Álvarez Choose Barcelona?

Arsenal are reshaping their attack at speed – but the striker they really want is looking the other way.

The club have sanctioned the departures of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Fábio Vieira in deals worth more than £70m, clearing space and raising funds for a marquee forward. The target is clear: Julián Álvarez. The problem is just as clear: he only wants Barcelona.

Arsenal push, Álvarez resists

Álvarez returned to Atlético Madrid training on Sunday after being left out of the squad for the win over Sevilla, a decision that only fuelled talk of a move. Arsenal sensed an opening. Mikel Arteta spoke directly to the former Manchester City forward last week, attempting to lure him back to the Premier League and place him at the heart of a rebuilt frontline.

The response was blunt. The Argentina international wants Barcelona and nobody else.

That stance leaves Arsenal working against both time and preference. Atlético have made it known they will not sell to their La Liga rivals, yet Álvarez remains fixed on the Spanish champions. Barcelona, for their part, have not walked away.

Barcelona circling, Atlético holding firm

The Catalan club have already struck an £8.6m agreement to sign Jesus, who is in the final year of his contract at Arsenal and has slipped behind Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyökeres in the pecking order. Jesus’s exit underlines how ruthlessly Arsenal are turning the page on an attacking unit that once looked settled.

Barcelona, having sold Ferran Torres to Paris Saint-Germain, still want another attacker and have not abandoned Álvarez. Their interest keeps the player’s dream alive and complicates Arsenal’s pitch.

Atlético, though, are digging in. They have lined up Jonathan David from Juventus on an initial loan with an option to buy next summer, a move that would usually signal readiness to cash in on another forward. Instead, they are understood to be determined to keep Álvarez, who joined from Manchester City in 2024 and is seen as central to their plans.

So Arsenal wait, hoping that a combination of Premier League wages, a leading role and Arteta’s project might yet turn Álvarez’s head.

Plan B – and C – as options slip away

The recruitment team are not standing still. While Álvarez remains the preferred choice, Arsenal are monitoring several other attacking options in case the pursuit collapses.

Iliman Ndiaye of Everton featured on their shortlist, a versatile forward with the energy and pressing profile Arteta likes. But Tottenham have moved into advanced talks over a £60m deal for the Senegal international, edging their north London rivals aside.

The pattern is familiar. Arsenal missed out on Morgan Rogers, who chose Chelsea, and saw an ambitious move for Vinícius Júnior fall flat when the Brazil forward signed a contract extension at Real Madrid. Each near-miss adds weight to the Álvarez chase. Each failed attempt narrows the margin for error.

Wide reshuffle and a record sale

On the flanks, the overhaul is just as stark. Christos Tzolis has arrived to cover the loss of Leandro Trossard on the left, but Martinelli’s imminent departure to Al-Hilal opens a much bigger hole.

The Brazilian is expected to complete a club-record £56m move to the Saudi side, with a medical scheduled for Monday after he was left out of the squad for the opening-weekend win over Coventry. The fee eclipses the £40m Liverpool paid Arsenal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2017 and underlines the scale of the rebuild under way.

Martinelli scored six times in the Champions League last season but only once in the Premier League. Arsenal have decided to cash in now, banking a huge sum and trusting that the system – and fresh blood – will replace his output. Eberechi Eze, already at the club and capable of operating on the left, offers one internal solution, but the shape of the forward line remains in flux.

Vieira moves on as Arteta gambles big

Fábio Vieira is also heading for the exit. After a loan spell at Hamburg last season, he is poised to rejoin the German club permanently in an £8.6m deal. Another creative option gone, another sign that Arteta wants a leaner, more defined squad.

The strategy is bold. Arsenal are stripping back a frontline that helped carry them into Europe’s elite, betting that a new spearhead – ideally Álvarez – will lift them higher. The money is there. The spaces in the squad are there. The manager has made his pitch.

Now it comes down to one player’s resolve. Does Álvarez bend to Atlético’s stance and Arsenal’s offer, or hold out for a Barcelona move his current club refuse to entertain?

Arsenal have committed to the reset. The risk is obvious: if Álvarez does not change his mind, who leads the line when the season’s defining nights arrive?