Before Arsenal’s move to sign Viktor Gyokeres in the summer, it has now been revealed that the Gunners also looked at Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez.
Last summer, Andrea Berta opted to bring Gyokeres to Arsenal in a deal worth around £63 million from Sporting CP.
You can turn back time and sign any of Arsenal’s striker targets, who are you picking and why?
The Italian director assessed several options, including Benjamin Sesko and Ollie Watkins, but it’s now emerged that Alvarez was another target.
It’s fair to say that Gyokeres’ start to life at Arsenal has been underwhelming, and there will be some regret that maybe the North London club didn’t move elsewhere.
Arsenal looked at Julian Alvarez before signing Viktor Gyokeres
Julian Alvarez’s name is one of the targets Arsenal discussed during their hunt for a centre forward last summer, according to David Ornstein.
Meanwhile, Thierry Henry urged Arsenal to sign Alvarez; however, they opted to look elsewhere, and surely they will be kicking themselves.
Speaking about the Argentine striker, Ornstein told Sky Sports: “I was just going to chime in on Alvarez.
“Arsenal were considering him a little bit in the last market back in the summer. His name came up, and you could see that sort of player coming into Arsenal.”
Fill in the blank: Viktor Gyokeres is now worth £___m following his start to life at Arsenal…
Arsenal paid £63m in the summer…
Andrea Berta knows Alvarez well, having brought him to Atletico back in 2024, but he decided against signing him for Arsenal.
The £81 million striker has been in decent form for Diego Simeone’s team this term, producing 11 goals and five assists in 27 matches.
Viktor Gyokeres’ goal record at Arsenal is slightly underrated
Gyokeres’ goal against Inter Milan has taken his tally to nine for Arsenal across all competitions.
Rather impressively, only Hugo Ekitike has scored more goals than the Swede among Premier League summer signings.
The 27-year-old produced a really smart finish to find the top corner at the San Siro, and Mikel Arteta will hope he can finally kick on.
After the game, the Spanish coach said he hopes Gyokeres’ competition with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus will help drive them all on: “We played the fourth consecutive game away from home in four different competitions in 10 days, I think it was. So it’s crazy, basically.
“No matter that we’ve done it, we’ve been able to do that because we have rotated, because players feel important, players are fit to play when it’s needed.”
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