Paul Merson raises 'strange' concern between Mikel Arteta and Arsenal's top transfer target

Paul Merson says it is strange that Mikel Arteta did not push to sign Julian Alvarez from Manchester City two years ago. Atletico Madrid striker Alvarez is one of Arsenal ’s top transfer targets this summer .

The 26-year-old has developed into one of the most devastating strikers in Europe since leaving City for Atletico in the summer of 2024 for a whopping £81.5million . The Argentine has scored 49 goals and registered 17 assists in two seasons across all competitions, leading to interest from Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Arsenal.

But Alvarez was very much already a known quantity during his City days, having played under Pep Guardiola from 2022 to 2024. In that time, he scored 36 goals for the Etihad side on his way to securing two Premier League titles and the Treble.

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Now, amid all of the suggestions that Arsenal are fighting to land his signature for north of £100m this summer, Gunners legend Merson is baffled as to why Arteta didn’t push harder to sign the World Cup winner when it became clear he wanted to leave City - just as he did with Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko in 2022 .

Merson, speaking exclusively to Mirror Football on behalf of Historic Newspapers , home to the world ’s largest private newspaper archive and personalised newspaper gifts, said about signing Alvarez: “I’d go and get him tomorrow morning. I’ll go and pick him up and bring him home. He’s up there with the best of the best. He’s an unbelievable player. That would be a signing and a half.

“But my worry is Arteta didn’t bring him in when he left Manchester City, I found that strange. If they get him in, they’ll win it again next season. It’s between Arsenal and Liverpool next season. I don’t think anyone else stops Arsenal.”

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Alvarez’s three displays against the north Londoners in the Champions League this term certainly set fans’ tongues wagging over him being the right man to lead the line, with £64m summer recruit Viktor Gyokeres providing mixed results.

However, despite Merson’s concerns over why Arteta didn’t consider Alvarez earlier, there were several valid reasons as to how he ended up at Atletico. As a fellow Argentine, Diego Simeone had an instant rapport with the player which helped convince him to move to the Spanish capital.

More importantly, Alvarez left City to escape Erling Haaland ’s shadow - there was no guarantee that he would start ahead of Kai Havertz, who Arsenal had spent heavily on the previous summer, at the time. There was also the issue of City not wanting to strengthen a direct rival as Jesus and Zinchenko’s sales had done previously, making it difficult to pull off the transfer.

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Merson also gave his glowing endorsement of two more Gunners targets - Sandro Tonali of Newcastle and Bournemouth ’s Eli Junior Kroupi. He said of Tonali: “I’ll go and get him from Newcastle too if they want. I’ll pick him up too. Definitely.”

On Kroupi, the 1989 title winner said: “He’s a very good prospect so I’d sign him. He’s not going to get in the team at the moment but I’m a big fan of his.”

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