Arsenal in club-to-club talks to sign £130m star

For Arsenal, this summer is all about improving their forward line. Mikel Arteta hasn’t exactly neglected the attack at his disposal but it has certainly been less of a priority.

Well, it looked like the penny dropped in the Champions League final. While it was a rare off day for the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the different in quality between PSG’s attack and Arsenal’s was stark.

Arteta has realised that the difference between success and failure in games such as that is often a moment of magic. They need to find their own magic this summer and plans are in motion to discover exactly that.

A whole host of targets are being lined up, including a man who played in that showpiece event in Budapest; Bradley Barcola.

Bradley Barcola one of three big-money targets for Arsenal

On Wednesday night, the news broke that Barcola was now a genuine target for Arsenal and that they are preparing a bid to sign the French winger.

A scorer during France’s opening World Cup game, the wide player is one of the hottest young talents in the world but is not the only attacking player on the club’s radar.

It would appear that England and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers is the number one target. Club-to-club discussions are already underway and the player has signalled that he would like to join the Gunners.

A cheaper alternative is Christos Tzolis of Club Brugge who, like Rogers, is particuarly keen on heading to the Emirates Stadium this summer.

While a winger is a priority, Andrea Berta and Co are also pondering the idea of signing a new striker. Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi continues to be linked, as does Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez.

Alvarez’s situation in the Spanish capital has become rather complex. He would like to join Barcelona, yet has been the subject of a mammoth £130m offer from Real Madrid for his services.

That bid was rejected and what followed were a series of social media posts from Atleti mocking their nearest rivals for their efforts.

Arsenal could take advantage of Atleti’s unwillingness to sell a rival according to TEAMtalk, with the Gunners in regular talks not just with the Spanish side but also with the Argentine’s representatives.

The Londoners have not signalled they will definitely move but they are gathering information on the deal and being kept in the loop on Alvarez’s situation.

What could help in negotiations is that Berta was actually crucial in the initial deal that Atleti struck with Manchester City to bring the forward to Spain in the first place.

Why Alvarez would be a better signing than Barcola

Arsenal simply have to sign a winger this summer, and in particular, it must be a left winger. If there was one area of the squad that lacked genuine elite quality last season it was in that position.

Leandro Trossard started the season productively, scoring eight times and registering six assists in his first 22 matches. Yet, 2026 was rather tough. He failed to score in 25 consecutive games before registering the winner against West Ham.

Gabriel Martinelli also found life difficult and while he netted 11 times in all competitions, only one of those efforts came in the Premier League.

The addition of Barcola or Rogers is important, therefore. The former is full of trickery and pace but it’s clear to see why Rogers is the number one target. Arteta really values Premier League experience.

That’s precisely why Alvarez is a target too and despite having Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres at their disposal, the former Man City man would make for a better addition than Barcola.

Why? Well, he’s got that experience of English football already, he’s proven he can do it on these shores and he is the absolute perfect striker to lead the line at the Emirates.

In Gyokeres and Havertz, Arteta has two polar opposites. One of them loves to run the channels and the other loves to come short and bring others into play. The latter reason is why the German started the Champions League final.

Still, Arsenal’s big Swede was their top scorer in 2025/26 with 21 goals. That said, he left a lot to be desired when it came to linking the play and his first touch was simply not up to scratch. Gyokeres ranks among the worst 10% of positionally similar players in Europe’s top five leagues for successful dribbles.

The feeling has always been that Arsenal need a genuine elite centre-forward to go to the next level and that’s what Alvarez would give the Gunners; he is a world-class striker.

During 2024/25, his first term with Atleti, he scored 29 goals in all competitions. There’s a reason he was hailed as a “monster” by Argentine journalist Pablo Gonzalez. Last season he did not run quite as rampant but still found the net on 20 occasions.

The fact is that Alvarez represents the best of both Havertz and Gyokeres. Like the former, he can some short and bring others into the game. He registered as many as 13 assists during his final campaign with City.

Like the latter, however, he is a brilliant goalscorer and his movement inside the area is first-class.

Barcola ticks a lot of boxes as far as finally signing a world-class left winger are concerned but if they can get a deal done for Alvarez, it would be a landmark addition. At least, Arteta would have the elite centre-forward he has been craving.