FC Barcelona and Arsenal are closely tracking Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez as the Argentine international seeks a summer move to compete for major European titles.
Barcelona has emerged as the preferred destination for the 26-year-old forward, but Atletico Madrid firmly refuses to sell the player to their La Liga rivals, pointing to his 500 million euro release clause.
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While Atletico resists a domestic transfer, the club remains open to sanctioning a sale to Arsenal, according to reports from Fabrizio Romano, who described the situation between Barcelona and Atletico as "very tense."
Arsenal Monitoring Situation
"Arsenal keep a close eye to the situation of Julian Alvarez and Barcelona," said football insider Fabrizio Romano during a YouTube broadcast.
The London club maintains interest following a setback in their pursuit of primary target Morgan Rogers.
"It's very tense between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, as you can see as I am telling you and I have been telling you for weeks," Romano said.
Atletico Madrid maintains that a sale is not their priority, yet market dynamics could force a resolution before the transfer window closes in August.
"Obviously, if Julian Alvarez can't go to Barcelona because Athletic don't want to sell the player to Barcelona," Romano said.
A potential transfer to Arsenal remains contingent on Atletico's final decision regarding the player's future in the coming weeks.
"Now, Atletico are saying they don't want to sell the player in general, but in case there is a broken relationship between Julian and Atleti and at some point they decide to sell the player in August, Arsenal could still be interested to the situation and could still keep a close eye to Julian Alvarez," Romano said.
