Paul Merson says Arsenal should move for Julian Alvarez this summer and called it strange that Mikel Arteta did not try to bring the forward to north London when he left Manchester City. The former England midfielder said he would “go and get him tomorrow morning” and described the 26-year-old as a player “up there with the best of the best.”
Alvarez, now at Atletico Madrid, is among Arsenal’s leading targets for the summer after reports linked the club with a deal worth more than £100m. The Argentina international joined Atletico from Manchester City in the summer of 2024 in an £81.5million move, having spent 2022 to 2024 in Manchester, where he scored 36 goals, won two Premier League titles and lifted the Treble. Across the two campaigns cited in the source, he produced 49 goals and 17 assists in all competitions, and he also made three appearances against Arsenal in this season’s Champions League.
Merson’s backing was emphatic. “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,” he said. His concern was not about Alvarez’s quality but about why Arsenal did not act sooner. “But my worry is Arteta didn’t bring him in when he left Manchester City, I found that strange,” Merson said.
The timing matters because Arsenal are again being pushed into the market after a mixed return from Viktor Gyokeres, the £64m striker signed in the summer. The club already made a major attacking investment, but Merson believes Alvarez would take them to another level. “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,” he said.
There is also a wider transfer reality behind the story. Arsenal had already committed heavily to Kai Havertz the previous summer, which the source says could have complicated any earlier move for Alvarez, while Manchester City’s reluctance to strengthen a direct rival would also have made the deal difficult. That helps explain why a player Merson now sees as a dream signing ended up moving to Atletico instead.
Alvarez is not the only name Merson is pushing Arsenal toward. He also backed Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali and Bournemouth forward Eli Junior Kroupi as additional Gunners targets. “I’ll go and get him from Newcastle too if they want. I’ll pick him up too. Definitely,” Merson said of Tonali. On Kroupi, he added: “He’s a very good prospect so I’d sign him.”
For Arsenal, the question now is whether they back a big move for Alvarez or spread their money across several targets. Merson has made his view clear: if the club want the sharpest answer to their title ambitions, he believes Alvarez is the one to bring in first.
