Decision made: Barcelona plan for January could majorly impact Arsenal’s transfer prospects

Barcelona have reportedly decided that they won’t be moving for Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez again in the January transfer window.

The Argentina international was the top target for Barca throughout the summer, and it seemed perfectly clear that they were also the only club he was interested in joining.

That’s despite Arsenal also being one of Alvarez’s suitors, so it will be interesting to see how this latest update, as reported by Fichajes, will impact the Gunners’ hopes of perhaps coming back in for the former Manchester City forward.

Arsenal could still do with a world class signing up front as they missed out on Alvarez and a number of other targets during the summer, but the 26-year-old previously decided against the move to the Emirates Stadium due to waiting for Barcelona.

Julian Alvarez did not exactly reject Arsenal

Fabrizio Romano has spoken on his YouTube channel about Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta personally calling Alvarez to try to talk him into the move to north London.

Discussing the saga, Romano felt it was worth stressing that Alvarez did not exactly reject Arsenal, but simply preferred to wait and see if there would be an opportunity to get his preferred move to the Nou Camp.

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While ultimately this won’t be that comforting to AFC supporters as it still meant they couldn’t sign Alvarez in the summer, it may perhaps become more significant now.

If Barcelona truly don’t plan to go back in for Alvarez, then perhaps he’ll have to think more seriously about interest from Arsenal in January.

Is Julian Alvarez worth all the hype?

On his day, there’s no doubt Alvarez is a joy to watch and likely has more to his all-round game than Viktor Gyokeres.

Still, it’s worth noting that Gyokeres still scored more goals than Alvarez last season, and there’s every chance we’re all writing the Sweden international off a bit too soon.

Alvarez’s qualities make him appealing, but it’s also a bit of a limited market for strikers, and that means Arsenal would likely have to pay well over the odds to sign him.

Given that he’s not exactly a goal machine, and isn’t even that keen on a move back to English football, you have to question if pursuing this any further would really be the right move.