Julian Alvarez now appears to be the Manchester City player who is most likely to leave the club this summer, with Arsenal keen on the attacker.
Alvarez is understood to be keen to leave the Etihad Stadium after two seasons at the club, as he wants more regular minutes.
Last term, Alvarez did play a lot, and finished as the Manchester City player with the most appearances across all competitions. However, he struggled to start games in the second half of 2023/24 once Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland had returned from their injuries.
Alvarez wants more game time and to play in a warmer climate if possible, and has apparently been open to leaving for a fair while.
Atletico Madrid want him, but so do Arsenal.
But there is one thing the Gunners will not be doing if they do decide to make an approach for the City number 19.
Arsenal will not enter a bidding war with Man City over Julian Alvarez as Txiki Begiristain plans talks
It was reported over the weekend that Arsenal are interested in a potential deal for Alvarez.
Now, Mikel Arteta left City before Alvarez became a City player. But the former City number two has still watched the Argentina international prove himself at the Etihad.
Arteta currently has Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard as his options to play through the middle.
But there has been clamour for the Gunners to land an elite striker. As we know, Alvarez is very comfortable playing through the middle, and usually does a fine job or City in any absence of Erling Haaland.
The Sun have reported on the Alvarez situation today, and mentioned Arsenal’s interest in the player – and there is one thing they will not do, which is get into a bidding war with City.
Txiki Begiristain will open talks with the player soon – it has been reported the player’s agent is due in Europe this coming week for talks over his client’s future. The club are said to want £70 million plus add-ons for the South American.
City are said to be ‘not happy’ at being kept in the dark regarding what Alvarez wants to do.
Alvarez to Arsenal unlikely
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So Arsenal won’t get into a bidding war with City. This immediately suggests that a move to the Emirates for Alvarez will be unlikely.
Ultimately, the Gunners are a title rival so City are not going to be doing any favours here regarding the asking price. Alvarez is a player who genuinely really improve them, so it would not be wise to do business.
One would also doubt Alvarez actually wanting to make a move to Arsenal, given the claims he wants a warmer climate. Potentially, a move to Atletico Madrid may appear more to the player.
It could be an interesting week coming up for Alvarez, since his Olympics is now over following Argentina’s defeat to France.
Ideally, City will get this situation resolved fairly quickly.
