Arsenal are prioritizing signing Julian Alvarez after realizing that the opportunity to own Bradley Barcola is almost gone. The Emirates Stadium team wants to strengthen their attack in the summer transfer window of 2026 to prepare for the campaign to defend the Premier League title next season.
Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) and Barcola (Paris Saint-Germain) are two prominent targets of Arsenal this summer. However, while Alvarez has expressed his desire to leave coach Diego Simeone's team, Barcola is identified by PSG as an important factor in the plan.
Barcelona is said to have sent an offer to recruit Alvarez, including Ferran Torres and a cash amount, but Atletico Madrid refused. The Argentine striker has a contract release clause of up to 500 million Euros (432 million pounds), and the Spanish capital team also affirmed that they will only let him leave if they receive the desired fee.
In the opposite direction, Barcola did not have much playing time at PSG last season, causing Arsenal and Liverpool to closely monitor the situation of the French winger.
However, according to British media, the reigning Champions League champions do not intend to sell Barcola. Although the situation may change after the 2026 World Cup, Arsenal is currently shifting their focus to Julian Alvarez and wants to complete this deal soon.
The Emirates Stadium team aims to finalize the agreement before the preparation period for the new season kicks off, in the context that competition for Alvarez has decreased. Previously, the price was a major barrier when Arsenal did not want to spend more than 90 million pounds, while Atletico requested more than 100 million pounds.
Another positive signal came to Arsenal when Spanish media said Atletico Madrid had refused to negotiate with Barcelona and was focusing on working with The Gunners on the Alvarez deal.
Sharing about his future in June, the 26-year-old striker also did not hide his desire to leave: "I have talked to people who need to exchange at the club and the best thing for everyone is a transfer. I want to realize my dream.
This is not the right time to talk too much about this, but I cannot hide it either. I always want to be true to myself.
Besides Alvarez, Arsenal is also closely monitoring developments at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. A noteworthy point lies in Vinicius Junior's contract, as the current agreement between the Brazilian striker and Real Madrid is only valid until the end of next season. This is considered a rare opportunity for European "giants" to approach the 26-year-old star at a more reasonable fee than usual.
Arsenal understands that persuading Real Madrid to leave Vinicius has never been an easy task. However, if the contract extension negotiation process between the Royal Spanish team and the Brazilian international falls into a deadlock, the "Gunners" are ready to send an offer that could break the club's transfer record to bring him to the Emirates.
