According to The Pitch Prospect, Arsenal have held exploratory talks about Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez.
Atleti could be ready to sell former Manchester City star Alvarez, who won the treble with Pep Guardiola’s side, for €100m (£86.8m).
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Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta has close ties to World Cup winner Alvarez, who negotiated his move from City to Atlético.
Barcelona are also keen on signing Argentina international Alvarez and sources say they are considered favorites.
The 25-year-old’s contract in the Spanish capital runs for four and a half years after his arrival in 2024.
Since then, Alvarez has scored 40 goals in 85 games for Diego Simeone’s side.
During his time at City he scored 20 times in 67 Premier League games.
As for Arsenal’s current centre-forward options, Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus have scored six league goals between them this season, while Kai Havertz has barely featured due to injury.
The Gunners are favorites to win the Premier League title this season, seven points clear with 16 games remaining and remaining strong on all four trophy fronts.
Mikel Arteta’s team is already in the round of 16 of the Champions League and is safely in the top two in the league phase.
They also beat Chelsea 3-2 in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final and are certain to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Arsenal have not won a major trophy since winning the FA Cup in 2020, while it has been 22 years since the last league title.
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Arsenal’s transfer plans
Arteta hinted last month that the Gunners could be active in the January transfer window.
The Spaniard admitted that the club is “actively looking for potential winter signings”.
In December he told reporters: “The window is there and I mean, we are Arsenal and we have to look at it: ‘Okay, what do we need?'”
“And we have to actively search, and then it’s a different story whether we make it or not.”
“But our job is to always be very well prepared because something can happen, so hopefully it will be very positive.”
“If you look at the other clubs, they have 24 or 25 squad players.
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“Although we have had more injuries than expected, some of which were unavoidable, we want to get better and know how important having the right player availability will be this season.”
Arteta struggled with several injury problems in the first half of the season.
Defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie have both been on the sidelines in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, teenager Max Dowman is out until February with an ankle problem.