Alvarez's Barcelona Dream Takes Shape as Arsenal's £104m Bid Falls Short

The transfer saga surrounding Julian Alvarez appears to be heading in one direction—and it's not towards the Emirates.

The Atletico Madrid marksman, who has blossomed into one of Europe's elite strikers since his move from Manchester City, has made his intentions abundantly clear: Barcelona is where he wants to be this summer. That's despite Arsenal's rather substantial £104m 'offer' failing to sway the 24-year-old's thinking.

Fabrizio Romano provided fresh insight into the Barcelona camp's machinations on Thursday evening, confirming the Spanish giants are putting the finishing touches on their opening bid. The deal machinery is in motion, though Laporta, Deco, and Flick are still ironing out the finer details of how they'll proceed.

"Barcelona are preparing, internally, the first official proposal," Romano explained. "Barcelona have not sent the bid yet—they're still discussing internally how they want to move, how they want to act."

The timeline appears tight. Barcelona won't be lodging their formal offer today, but Romano suggests it's merely a matter of days away—potentially arriving immediately after they wrap up the Anthony Gordon formalities.

Ben Jacobs added further weight to the Barcelona narrative, reporting that Alvarez has made his stance unmistakably clear. The striker is pushing to leave the Wanda Metropolitano and has his heart set on Catalonia. Barcelona's opening gambit is expected to land in the region of €100m, though Atletico Madrid are unlikely to accept anything short of significantly more than the €120m they paid for Antoine Griezmann back in 2019.

Atletico had harboured hopes of tying Alvarez down to fresh terms, but those plans have been shelved. The player's mind is made up, and he's actively pushing for the exit door.

Arsenal, it seems, will have to look elsewhere for their striker upgrade.