‘Firm Intention’—Arsenal, Barcelona Dealt Julian Alvarez Transfer Blow

The Atlético Madrid star has recently cast doubt over his future in the Spanish capital.

Julián Alvarez is a man in demand. | Maria Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images

Atlético Madrid reportedly have the “firm intention” of handing Julián Alvarez a new contract which would make him the club’s highest-paid player to ward off interest from Arsenal and Barcelona.

Alvarez’s position in the Spanish capital is already pretty secure. The World Cup winner is tied down to a contract which still has four years left to run and includes a $574.9 million (£433.9 million, €500 million) release clause. However, Alvarez didn’t exactly wed himself to Atlético when recently answering a question about his future with the deliberately vague response of “Who knows?”

“Maybe yes, maybe no, you never know,” he helpfully added.

Atlético are inclined to turn that “maybe” into a certainty with a contract extension which would entitle Alvarez to $11.5 million per year, a significant rise from his current annual salary of $8.1 million, per MARCA. That sum would catapult the 26-year-old to the same wage as the club’s top earner, Jan Oblak.

Talks have not yet officially opened even though Alvarez is thought to be aware of Atlético’s intentions. Crucially, the Argentine finds himself in a position of power ahead of a potentially decisive summer transfer window.

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Could Arsenal or Barcelona Afford to Compete With Atletico’s Offer?

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side have plenty of financial might. | Jacques Feeney/Offside/Getty Images

Arsenal boast the financial might of the Premier League while Barcelona are so cash-strapped they’ve had to remove the free breakfasts offered to academy players in recent years. Yet, counterintuitively, it is the Catalans who may find it easier to present a financial package to rival the one offered by Atlético.

The figures bandied around by MARCA are thought to be after taxes have been taken into account. Atlético’s proposal would therefore equate to a gross figure somewhere in the region of $21.4 million per year.

For comparison, Bukayo Saka recently became Arsenal’s highest earner with an annual wage equivalent to $20.7 million. The Gunners are reportedly obliged to sell this summer to ensure they continue to comply with the Premier League’s financial regulations after multiple years of extensive outlays unbalanced by minimal outgoings. Since the 2021–22 campaign, only one club in world soccer has recorded a larger net spend than Arsenal.

Barcelona, in stark contrast, have been outspent by Norwich City over the same period. President Joan Laporta inherited a club riddled with financial issues following a combination of chronic mismanagement and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, thanks to some cunning palancas—levers (or loopholes)—what little funds the club have been able to raise have been diverted straight back into the playing squad. As Barcelona’s legendary former player and manager Johan Cruyff once said: “The money should be on the pitch. Not in the bank.”

With this model in mind, Barcelona have been able to fund Robert Lewandowski’s salary. The club’s top earner reportedly takes home somewhere in the region of $27.6 million, considerably more than Alvarez has been promised. What’s more, Lewandowski is out of contract this summer and set to move on, opening up a slot in the squad and accounts for Alvarez to perfectly fit.

However, there is also the small matter of a transfer fee. Atlético would presumably be desperately reluctant to do business with a direct rival, but it would not be the first deal between the two clubs. Antoine Griezmann infamously left the capital for Barcelona in 2019 for a whopping $134 million. That arrangement backfired so spectacularly that Barça were convinced to sell the Frenchman back to Atlético for around $21 million just three years later.

It appears as though both clubs could compete with Atlético financially, but whether either is willing to take such an expensive gamble is another matter entirely.

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