Deadline day latest on Arsenal’s Julian Alvarez pursuit

Julian Alvarez is set to stay at Atletico Madrid, with Isaan Khan reporting for the Daily Mail that barring a last-minute change in stance from the player, Arsenal are not hopeful of a move and are assessing other options.

Arsenal have reportedly turned their attentions away from Alvarez at this point, and the forward is expected to stay where he is.

There’s certainly no sign that Alvarez is preparing for a deadline-day exit, as he was spotted taking part in normal team training with Atletico on Tuesday morning.

The striker had missed a few training sessions recently, but it seems he’s now been successfully reintegrated by the club.

In Spain, Javi Rayo reports for El Desmarque that the Alvarez saga appears to be almost entirely settled. Arsenal have reportedly given up on the signing, which means Alvarez will stay, as the Gunners were the only club making an offer acceptable to Atletico.

It certainly seems as though there’s no longer any reason for optimism with this potential signing.

The saga had Arsenal on the back foot from the very beginning, with the player’s clear preference to join Barcelona. The only hope was that Atletico might continue to refuse all Barcelona offers, and that the player might accept a move to Arsenal just to allow him to leave Atletico.

Atletico have indeed stood firm in their stance against their La Liga rivals, but Alvarez has never wavered. It’s Barcelona or nothing for him.

The result is a lose-lose for everyone involved, with an unhappy player remaining at a club where the fans have turned on him, and the two other interested clubs failing to sign him.