Arsenal's Summer Transfer Plans: Alvarez, Kroupi, and More

Arsenal’s title party is on ice. There’s a Champions League final to play, a date with PSG in Budapest that will define a season already gilded by a Premier League crown.

But in the background, the market is already moving. And some doors are quietly closing.

Alvarez drifts towards Barcelona

Inside Arsenal, the message from Josh Kroenke has been consistent: the club will be bold again this summer. The champions intend to act like champions.

One early target, though, is slipping away.

Julian Alvarez, the Atletico Madrid striker admired in north London, is edging towards Barcelona. Atletico’s sporting chief Andrea Berta, who originally took the Argentine to Spain, has been working on the deal, but the decisive factor lies with the player.

Sources involved in the negotiations have told football.london that Alvarez’s preference is clear. He wants Barcelona. Not Arsenal. Not PSG. Barcelona.

A bid has already gone in from the Catalan club and been rejected, yet Alvarez has formally informed Atletico that his wish is to join Barça. Diego Simeone’s side will fight for their price and dig in over the fee, but the direction of travel is obvious.

Arsenal, once in that race, are now watching from distance.

Alvarez knows England. He has two Premier League titles from his time at Manchester City. For a South American forward, the pull of Barcelona – the history, the style, the climate – is easy to understand. Arsenal’s project is compelling, but not enough in this case.

Kroupi admiration meets a firm ‘no’

Another name on Arsenal’s radar, Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi, has produced a different kind of dead end.

Kroupi’s breakout season, with 13 Premier League goals in his debut campaign, has not gone unnoticed. Most of the division’s elite have taken a close look. Arsenal are among those who appreciate his movement, his penalty-box instincts, his ceiling.

Bournemouth, though, are in no mood to cash in.

Club sources made it clear on Thursday: Kroupi will not be sold this summer. The Cherries are heading into their first-ever European campaign and see him as central to that adventure, alongside Rayan and Alex Scott, who has just been offered a new contract.

Manchester City are also among the clubs that like Kroupi, but prising him away from the Vitality Stadium would require a huge bid, with figures up to £85 million being mentioned. For now, that’s the barrier.

So Arsenal may need to look elsewhere. The key point? A new striker is wanted, but not at any cost and not as an absolute necessity. With a title-winning attack already in place, this is refinement, not emergency surgery.

Wide, midfield and full-back: the real battlegrounds

If centre-forward is a luxury, the left wing is closer to a priority.

PSG’s Bradley Barcola, who will line up against Arsenal in Budapest, is a player the Gunners admire. A left-sided option who can stretch the pitch and hurt teams one-on-one fits neatly with what Mikel Arteta wants from his front line. How far that interest goes after the final will be one of the more intriguing subplots of Arsenal’s summer.

Midfield is another area earmarked for reinforcement. The engine room has carried a heavy load across a title chase and deep European run, and the club is open to adding another high-level option to maintain the intensity and variety that Arteta demands.

There is also a live possibility of movement at right-back. The modern full-back role under Arteta is complex – part defender, part playmaker – and Arsenal are considering whether another profile in that position could push the team on again.

Kroenke’s warning shot

Josh Kroenke, speaking to NBC Sports, set the tone for what comes next once the final whistle blows in Budapest and the World Cup in North America takes over the calendar.

“The business never stops,” he said when asked about Arsenal’s summer plans. “So, right now there are other teams that are already trying to strengthen to come at us for next season. So we need to be aware of that.

“We’ve already had a few conversations about different areas that we think we can improve, both on and off the pitch. We are looking forward to getting that going this summer.

“It is going to be an interesting one because of the World Cup, but fortunately everybody is coming to the United States, so I don’t have to travel for once.”

That is the reality for the new champions. The chase has flipped. Arsenal are now the team others are building to catch.

Alvarez looks bound for Barcelona. Kroupi is locked in at Bournemouth. Barcola and a reshaped supporting cast sit on the horizon.

First, though, comes PSG and a chance to crown a season with Europe’s biggest prize – and then a summer that will show just how serious Arsenal are about staying on top.