Exclusive: Club surely won’t repeat this transfer mistake with Arsenal, says expert

Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez may be available on the transfer market this summer, but Charles Watts can’t see him being another player to make the move to Arsenal.

The talented Argentina international has shone during his time at Man City, despite struggling to establish himself as a regular starter at the Etihad Stadium.

We saw two years ago that this could lead to opportunities for rival clubs to swoop, with Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko both joining Arsenal, while Raheem Sterling also made the move to Chelsea that summer.

Jesus and Zinchenko ended up making a really positive impact at Arsenal, however, with Mikel Arteta’s side now clearly the closest side to challenging Pep Guardiola and co. for the title, so for that reason Watts can’t see City selling to the Gunners again.

Alvarez would surely be a good option to strengthen Arsenal up front, but he must now be more likely to end up somewhere else, with a number of options already mentioned elsewhere.

Alvarez transfer: Arsenal won’t be able to raid Man City again

“I just don’t see any way that Manchester City would sell a player to Arsenal this summer, especially one as talented as Julian Alvarez,” Watts said.

“City see Arsenal as genuine challenges now. They didn’t when they sanctioned the deals for Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko two years ago, but that view has changed, for obvious reasons.

“We saw it last summer when Arsenal touched base to ask about Joao Cancelo – City made it clear they would not do business with them again and I can’t see that changing this time around, given how closely matched the two teams now are.

“Alvarez is a quality player, but if he does end up leaving City this summer, we won’t be seeing him pitch up at the Emirates, even if there is a need and a desire for a top signing up front.”