Talks held: Latest on Arsenal & Barcelona “transfer battle” for €150m-plus star
Arsenal and Barcelona could reportedly be set for a major transfer battle over Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez, according to Ekrem Konur.
Posting on X today, the Turkish journalist provided the latest information on Alvarez’s future, revealing that the Argentina international could cost more than €150m, and possibly close to €200m.
It seems Barca want Alvarez as their long-term successor to Robert Lewandowski, with director Deco already holding some talks over the deal.
See below for the details from Konur’s X post…
?#Atletico Julián Álvarez – transfer battle!
? Arsenal considered him in summer; now competing with Barcelona.
? Atleti valuation well above €150M; figures up to €200M mentioned.
?? Deco met Alvarez’s reps; Barça see him as Lewandowski’s successor.
? Atletico view him… https://t.co/hidTuiXge5 pic.twitter.com/hx9X6sphdz
— Ekrem KONUR (@Ekremkonur) January 22, 2026
According to Konur, Arsenal are considering Alvarez and could be set for a “transfer battle” with Barcelona, but Deco’s talks could perhaps suggest the Catalan giants are more advanced with their pursuit.
What David Ornstein has said about Arsenal’s Julian Alvarez transfer interest
Speaking on Sky Sports yesterday, as quoted by afcstuff on X, the reliable David Ornstein also provided some insight into the Gunners possibly being in the race to sign Alvarez.
“Arsenal were considering Julian Alvarez in the summer, his name came up,” Ornstein said.
“You could see that sort of player coming into Arsenal. If there’s going to be outward manoeuvring, then there is definitely scope for an arrival [in attacking positions].”
The 25-year-old looks like he could be a good fit for Arsenal, even if he has suffered a recent dip in form, so this will surely be one to watch again, particularly if Viktor Gyokeres doesn’t improve.
How Julian Alvarez compares to Arsenal’s strikers
It was widely felt that AFC needed a big signing up front this season, but Gyokeres hasn’t really delivered since joining from Sporting Lisbon.
Meanwhile, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus have had problems staying fit in recent times, and are not exactly that prolific even when fully fit, so could Alvarez be the upgrade Mikel Arteta needs?
Here’s a look at their scoring records over the last four years…
| Julian Alvarez | Viktor Gyokeres | Kai Havertz | Gabriel Jesus | |
| 2022/23 | 17 | 22 | 9 | 11 |
| 2023/24 | 19 | 43 | 14 | 8 |
| 2024/25 | 29 | 54 | 15 | 7 |
| 2025/26 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 3 |
| TOTAL | 76 | 128 | 38 | 29 |
The numbers arguably paint a pretty clear picture, even if there’s some variation there, with Havertz and Jesus rarely looking like they could be 20-30-goal-a-season players.
Gyokeres looked like he might have been able to do that, but it seems those crazy numbers in Portugal haven’t translated into success in England so far.
Alvarez, by contrast, has shown himself to be pretty reliably prolific everywhere he’s played, even when he wasn’t a regular starter at Manchester City.
It will be interesting to see if he favours a move back to England or if he’d rather stay in La Liga by moving to Atletico’s rivals Barcelona.
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