“He came to my office yesterday and requested to join Arsenal, I’m so disappointed in him”: Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone angered by his best player’s decision to leave the club and join Arsenal this summer
Julian Alvarez’s impressive debut season with Atletico Madrid has seen Arsenal and Liverpool take note, but the Argentine has reservations about returning to the Premier League. Only 12 months ago he left Manchester City and headed to Spain.
Alvarez has long been tipped for big things and stood up during his time in Manchester, but was undoubtedly behind Erling Haaland in the pecking order. Atletico came knocking and paid more than £80million to bring him to La Liga.
City sanctioned the sale, landing huge profits, and Alvarez has quickly taken to life under Diego Simeone. He led the line for Atletico, scoring 29 times in all competitions this year.
Marca reports that the new Premier League champions Liverpool and runners-up Arsenal have both registered interest in the 25-year-old. They claimed that the Gunners are regarded as the ‘strongest bidder’ with a striker firmly on their shortlist.
Alvarez is well versed in the demands of the Premier League but isn’t convinced about a return to England given how well he has settled in Spain and the ease at which he’s fitted in with the Atletico set-up.
The Spanish outlet also claims that Barcelona could give Alvarez the chance to remain in La Liga as they view him as the potential successor to Robert Lewandowski. The Catalans have landed the domestic double, downing Atletico en route.
The World Cup winner has been a big hit in the capital and has underlined his love and affection for the club and their fans. He said on social media: “The first season at home is coming to an end. Thank you for always being there and for making me feel like I belong from day one.”
Alvarez is also only one year into a six-year deal with Atletico seeing him as their long-term frontman. Liverpool are in the market for more goals and may have more cash to spent should Darwin Nunez leave whilst Arsenal’s striker plans may depend on whether they can land Viktor Gyokeres.
Atletico president Enrique Cerezo has dismissed any notions of them offloading their star forward and claimed: “Julian Alvarez is a player of Atletico de Madrid. He’s very happy here, he is our player and he will remain our player. He was raised at Atletico Madrid and he will die at Atletico Madrid.”
