Atlético Madrid
Chelsea among clubs monitoring Julián Alvarez as summer transfer interest grows
Chelsea are tracking Julián Álvarez as Barcelona and PSG are named among likely suitors this summer.
Chelsea have been identified as one of several clubs keeping tabs on Atlético Madrid striker Julián Alvarez ahead of the summer window. According to the Daily Mail, Alvarez is listed among attacking targets as Chelsea pursue both a midfielder and an attacking player.
Atlético paid £81.8 million ($109.7 million) to sign Alvarez from Manchester City in the summer of 2024. Over the subsequent 18 months the Argentina international has recorded 40 goals in 84 appearances for Atlético, a return that has intensified interest in his future.
Paris Saint-Germain are named alongside Chelsea as suitors, but Barcelona are reported to pose the most significant threat to Atlético’s hold on the forward. SPORT report that Alvarez sits high on Barcelona’s wish list as the club assess options to succeed Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski will turn 38 in August and, while he remains productive with nine goals in 15 La Liga games this season, Barcelona have been conscious for some time that planning for a replacement will be required. An ambitious proposal involving Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has been floated in wider coverage, but Alvarez is consistently mentioned as a principal candidate to fill the longer-term striking need at Barcelona.
A transfer for Alvarez would be costly. Estimates place the fee in the region of €100 million ($116.4 million). SPORT add that Barcelona are not presently in a position to complete such an operation as they continue to work towards complying with La Liga’s 1:1 spending rules.
With Atlético’s sizeable outlay to recruit Alvarez barely two years old, any approach this summer would be closely scrutinised. Chelsea’s inclusion on lists of interested clubs underlines the degree to which Alvarez’s recent form has attracted attention across Europe. The coming weeks and months will determine whether dialogue between interested parties progresses into concrete offers for one of the more prominent forwards linked with a move this summer.
Arsenal
Money Talks: CIES Ranks the World’s Most Valuable Squads
CIES values nine squads over $1bn; Real Madrid leads at $1.78bn while Tottenham exceed $1bn. Values.
The surge in transfer prices and squad valuations has reshaped how clubs are measured. The CIES Football Observatory produces those estimates by weighing a player’s quality, age, position and length of contract, and those individual valuations are then summed to give each squad a market value.
The scale is striking. There are nine clubs with squads valued above $1 billion. At the top is Real Madrid with a squad valuation of $1.78 billion and Kylian Mbappé listed as the most valuable player at $221 million. Barcelona follow with $1.60 billion, Lamine Yamal accounting for $403.9 million of that total. Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain each sit at $1.55 billion, with Bukayo Saka ($131.5 million) and Désiré Doué ($150.3 million) named as their most valuable players respectively.
Liverpool’s roster is valued at $1.20 billion, most valuable player Florian Wirtz ($149.8 million). Bayern Munich come in at $1.15 billion with Michael Olise ($162.6 million) as their top-rated asset. Tottenham’s squad is valued at $1.03 billion; Xavi Simons is listed as their most valuable player ($98.1 million), despite the club’s current relegation fight and Igor Tudor’s assessment that players “are lacking when we attack, we lack the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run and we are lacking behind to stay there to suffer and not concede the goal.”
The list also includes Manchester United ($953 million, Benjamin Šeško $100.3 million) and Inter ($942 million, Lautaro Martínez $117 million). Earlier-positioned squads under $1 billion include Atlético Madrid ($903 million, Julián Álvarez $136.5 million), Juventus ($896 million, Kenan Yıldız $152.5 million) and Brighton ($894 million, Diego Gómez $86.4 million).
Several voices in the game have reflected on the market changes. Karl-Heinz Rumminegge said, “There are some players who do not come with a price tag.” Robert Lewandowski complained, “You are young, you score 10 goals in six months and some club will pay 60 or 70 million,” adding, “Before, you had to achieve something.” Vincent Kompany warned players about hype: “I always tell my players, ‘When there’s hype please don’t believe it, you’re not that good.’”
Whether the valuations mirror on-field quality or the inflation of a transfer market remains the central question CIES data brings into focus.
Al Hilal
January window spenders: who spent big and how the market moved
January window: English clubs led the spending as Saudi and Brazil injected late-market drama. more.
The January window settled into a narrative of concentrated spending and late-market drama. English clubs combined to outspend the rest of the continent, their £390 million ($530 million) outlay dwarfing other top divisions. Meanwhile the Saudi market and Brazil’s strengthened finances injected headline moves.
Lazio were unusually active despite a prior transfer ban. The Romans replaced Taty Castellanos and Mattéo Guendouzi, who moved to West Ham United and Fenerbahçe respectively, by signing Ajax’s Kenneth Taylor for just shy of €17 million ($32 million) and adding young centre forward Petar Rakov. The fees recouped left Lazio with a net spend of -€23 million (-$27 million).
Fenerbahçe’s window pivoted around Guendouzi (€28 million) and the late acquisition of N’Golo Kanté on a free after his return from Saudi Arabia. The club banked on established midfield reinvention to challenge Galatasaray at the top.
Bournemouth again invested in youth, paying €28.5 million ($33.7 million) for Vasco de Gama prospect Rayan and also signing Golden Boy nominee Alex Tóth. Tottenham’s January activity saw Conor Gallagher arrive alongside Brazilian left back João Souza, though many supporters felt more reinforcements were needed. Sporting director Johan Lange asserted after the window that it was important the club remained disciplined amid potential temptations.
West Ham strengthened early, paying a combined €52 million ($61 million) for Castellanos and Gil Vicente’s Pablo to reshape their attack. They also added Adama Traoré for a small fee and brought in Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea.
Atlético Madrid spent late, bringing in Ademola Lookman from Atalanta for €35 million ($41 million) and signing Elche prospect Rodrigo Mendoza as a potential long-term addition after Giacomo Raspadori’s exit.
Flamengo flexed improved finances following a strong Club World Cup showing, reporting club-record revenue of €249 million ($294 million) for the first three quarters of 2025 and setting a Brazilian transfer record by paying €41 million ($48 million) to re-sign Lucas Paquetá from West Ham.
In Saudi Arabia Karim Benzema’s move from Al Ittihad to Al Hilal coincided with Al Hilal leading Al Nassr in the title race. Cristiano Ronaldo’s fallout is believed linked to that switch; Ronaldo has gone on strike while Benzema scored a hat-trick on debut. Al Hilal also extended Rúben Neves and added Mohamed Kader Meïté, with the club labelled the “Real Madrid of Asia” by Benzema.
Arsenal
Andrea Berta’s Transfer Ledger: Successes and Missteps from Atlético to Arsenal
Appointed in March 2025, Andrea Berta’s transfers range from Rodri and Griezmann to costly misfires.
Andrea Berta arrived at Arsenal in March 2025, succeeding Edu Gaspar and immediately bringing a résumé built at Atlético that mixed decisive finds with expensive errors. His time in Madrid was defined by an eye for potential and a willingness to back unconventional moves.
Among his clearest successes was Rodri. Released by Atlético as a youth, he impressed at Villarreal and was re-signed for around $23 million in the summer of 2018. Within 12 months Manchester City activated his $83.5 million release clause, beginning his transformation into a future Ballon d’Or winner. Marcos Llorente was another shrewd acquisition. Signed from Real Madrid in the summer of 2019 as a replacement for Rodri, Llorente had made just 39 senior appearances for Madrid and had been told by Zinedine Zidane that he was not part of his plans. For $47 million he became a perfect fit for Diego Simeone, making well over 250 appearances and becoming one of the manager’s most trusted players.
Berta also showed instincts for bargain flips. He helped Genoa turn a profit on Leonardo Bonucci in 2009, buying for $4.7 million and selling for $12.4 million within a month. The decision to sign Luis Suárez for $8 million in 2020 was unfashionable but effective; Suárez scored 21 La Liga goals in his first season to fire Atlético to the title and added 11 the following campaign. The Antoine Griezmann cycle remains perhaps Berta’s most impressive piece of business: sold to Barcelona for $141 million, recalled on loan in 2021, Atlético refused to trigger a $47 million option and eventually re-signed him permanently for $23.5 million.
Yet the record contains costly mistakes. Viktor Gyökeres arrived at Arsenal for $85 million in June 2025 and had an underwhelming start, with most of his seven goals up until Christmas described as flukes and Mikel Arteta deploying Mikel Merino up front in response. Atlético paid around $70 million to re-sign Diego Costa in 2017 only for his contract to be terminated three years later. Thomas Lemar, a near-target for Arsenal in 2017 after a failed $117.5 million bid, has struggled for Atlético and is on loan at Girona in 2025–26, with just 10 goals in seven seasons. Jackson Martínez, signed for $41 million from Porto after 92 goals in three seasons, lasted six months before being sold and prompting Atlético president Enrique Cerezo to say Martínez “was not at the level” of the club. Finally, João Félix’s $148 million arrival in 2019 produced a mixed four-year spell that never fully justified that outlay.
Berta’s ledger is unmistakably mixed: decisive scouting and spectacular value plays alongside high-cost gambles that did not always pay off.
