After an unfruitful chase of Vinicius Junior, Arsenal are back in for another South American forward playing in Madrid.
This time it is Julián Alvarez from Atlético Madrid.
The major complication for this transfer beyond the eye-watering transfer fee that is being quoted is that the player would prefer a move to Barcelona. We will leave that aside for now and instead focus on where he could actually fit in the current Arsenal team.
Here is the breakdown of the minutes spent in each position since he moved to Europe.
He has shown significant ability to float around the pitch and play a bit everywhere but he doesn’t have a locked down position. I know that Mikel Arteta favors positional versatility and has assembled a squad full of incredibly talented players that can play in multiple roles, so it probably doesn’t faze him.
Alvarez kind of falls into the jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none category. When I pull up my Arsenal depth chart I am not sure that I see a position here where I would slot him into being “The Guy”.
There is still just a part of me that does wonder if that is exactly what you want from your record signing.
That nagging question got sharpened for me on the latest Arsenal Vision Podcast, where Tim Stillman framed it as a test worth applying to any big signing: is he obviously better than the players already occupying the positions he'd play in?
Is he a better striker than Kai Havertz? Different, sure, but more of a complimentary player than one that I’d say is better or worse.
Is he a better advanced/creative midfielder than Martin Ødegaard? Probably not, especially if Ødegaard is actually fit and at his best, but he could offer similar impact playing the role in a different way.
Is he a better hybrid second striker/winger than Eberechi Eze? Probably but not massively so and they both offer the same ability to turn a game on one moment of magic.
Comparing him to the players Arsenal already have highlights his versatility and quality. He may not be “clearly better” on the stats but he can stand up well against a diverse set of players and hold his own.
Rather than getting too bogged down in a first-XI type thinking, the bigger picture for me would be that he absolutely would make the squad better. He is talented enough that even if he is playing in multiple positions match-to-match rather than just one, that he would be playing enough minutes that he would still be a key player in the squad.
Arsenal will play over 60 matches this coming season. They have had major injuries to Havertz, Ødegaard, and Bukayo Saka in the attacking line over the last two campaigns and this remains one of the biggest limiting factors for how well this team can attack. Adding a player who can carry the attacking burden alongside those three, or in place of any of them, is a luxury Arsenal haven't had in my time as a fan. It would raise the floor and the ceiling at the same time.
On the final 2025-26 version of the player rankings, Alvarez took the top spot for potential/somewhat realistic options among strikers. Here is what Adam wrote as he put him in that number 1 spot:
There may not be another striker in world football who does as many things well as Alvarez. He presses, creates, finishes, drops into midfield and makes intelligent runs behind the defense, allowing him to function as a number nine, second striker or attacking midfielder without sacrificing effectiveness. Argentina went all the way back to the World Cup final before falling 1-0 to Spain, adding another deep international run to an already ridiculous résumé. For this particular model, nobody else quite matches his combination of production, versatility and all-around influence.
I share the enthusiasm about the player and the possibilities at Arsenal. What I can't tell you is where he exactly he fits in, and I've made my peace with that. Mikel Arteta and the management staff at Arsenal aren’t perfect, but they have earned some benefit of the doubt.
I don’t know where the obvious fit in the team is for him right now. Sometimes even when we think we do, having the player in your team and seeing how they fit the dynamics causes you to have to be flexible.
Does he obviously come in and take an established player’s position? I don’t know yet. What I do believe is that he is supremely talented and that he is the type of player that I would want to have in the team in a match that matters. That second part is what can decide whether Arsenal win the biggest prizes.