Arsenal\u2019s pursuit of Juli\u00e1n Alvarez has reportedly reached the point where Viktor Gy\u00f6keres could be included in a part-exchange deal. According to The Times, the Gunners would be prepared to soften the cash element of any bid by adding last season\u2019s top scorer to the package.<\/p>\n
Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, however, have made their position clear: their leading forward is not for sale. Reports suggest that prising the 26-year-old away from the Spanish capital would require a nine-digit fee, which explains why Arsenal are said to be considering a player-plus-cash structure.<\/p>\n
Such agreements remain unusual. Even a simple transfer needs three sides to agree, and introducing another player, along with his representatives, makes the process far more complicated. Still, there are reasons why the move could appeal to more than one party, even if the most obvious beneficiary is not the one that ultimately gains the most.<\/p>\n
On paper, Arsenal would be the side to profit most. Alvarez offers relentless movement, intensity and pressure high up the pitch, qualities that fit a team built on defensive control but sometimes short of invention in possession. Over the last two World Cups, no player has applied more high-intensity pressures in the opposition half.<\/p>\n
For Mikel Arteta, there is also the attraction of landing a player he has long wanted while shifting on Gy\u00f6keres, whose first season was mixed despite finishing as the club\u2019s first debutant since Alexis S\u00e1nchez to reach 20 goals in all competitions. His physical presence did not translate into enough influence against stronger opponents, and his hold-up play often left Arsenal exposed when trying to play through a press.<\/p>\n
The statistics underline the contrast. In 2025-26, Gy\u00f6keres scored 15 non-penalty goals from 49 appearances across the top flight and Champions League, while Alvarez managed 13 from 44. Gy\u00f6keres generated more non-penalty xG, but Alvarez created more chances and assists.<\/p>\n
There is also a tactical logic from Atl\u00e9tico\u2019s side. Andrea Berta, now Arsenal\u2019s sporting director, was the man behind Gy\u00f6keres\u2019 arrival in north London last summer, and his profile may suit a league with greater imbalance. In contrast, Alvarez had an excellent Champions League campaign but a relatively modest domestic return, with three of his four open-play La Liga goals arriving in one match against Rayo Vallecano.<\/p>\n
Even so, Arsenal would have to accept the risk that a deal of this scale could backfire. One point appears clear: a move to the Emirates is not high on Alvarez\u2019s wish list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arsenal may use Gyokeres in a swap deal for Alvarez, but the fit is far from straightforward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1843],"tags":[983,1342,1759],"class_list":["post-17993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal-transfer-news","tag-agents","tag-andrea-berta","tag-arsenal-transfer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}