Arsenal could go from Premier League champions to Champions League winners if they manage to sign Julian Alvarez before the transfer window closes, according to Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville.
The Gunners have made an impressive start to the new campaign, following their Community Shield victory over Manchester City with a 3-0 win against newly promoted Coventry.
However, Neville believes Mikel Arteta’s squad still lacks a player capable of producing moments of decisive quality in attack. He has identified Atletico de Madrid forward Alvarez as the signing who could provide that extra spark.
Arsenal are among the clubs interested in the Argentina international, with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain also reported to be monitoring the situation. Atletico chief executive Miguel Angel Gil said earlier this summer that the club had no intention of selling Alvarez and would not consider an offer of even £170m for the forward.
Neville has nevertheless urged Arsenal to test Atletico’s resolve during the final days of the transfer window, arguing that the addition of Alvarez could elevate the team beyond domestic success.
“What a squad [Mikel Arteta] has built,” said Neville. “If he puts another forward into that, if they could get Julian Alvarez somehow, that would light this place up as you’d have a world-class striker to go with all the world-class defenders and midfielders.
“They wouldn’t just become Premier League title winners they’d go the next step and win a Champions League. It’s a massive 10 days. He needs a bit of magic up front – someone that can win a game for you when you don’t play well.”
Arteta, speaking after the match, said that Arsenal’s priority remained improving the players already at his disposal and developing the relationships within the team.
“The main focus has to be to improve our players and the connection between them,” he said.
The manager also pointed to the limited time Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Ben White spent together on Arsenal’s right side last season because of injuries.
Neville, though, believes Odegaard could become even more effective if Arsenal added a forward who consistently made runs behind the defence. He compared the potential impact to that of former Arsenal striker Ian Wright.
“He [Odegaard] is exceptional. If there was an Ian Wright-type player up front for Arsenal who makes those short runs he’d be even better,” said Neville.
“As [Kai] Havertz and [Viktor] Gyokeres always come to the ball, Odegaard has to play possession rather than playing the slip passes. If Arsenal were to sign Julian Alvarez then he’d go up a level as it would be perfect for the style of play.”
Neville’s fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher also believes Arsenal remain short of a world-class presence among their attacking players. He said, however, that Saka and Odegaard have shown the ability to reach that level themselves.
“I still think Arsenal lack a world-class player in the front four,” he said. “About two years ago I thought Saka and Odegaard would make that next step. For whatever reason it’s not happened due to injuries or Arsenal not being at their best. Those two were close to getting to the levels shown by Man City and Liverpool players, like [Kevin] De Bruyne and [Erling] Haaland or [Mohamed] Salah and [Sadio] Mane. They took their teams to the title.
“Arsenal won the league without [Saka and Odegaard] doing it. They did it by having a great defence and goalkeeper. But I still think Saka and Odegaard can get back to where they were a couple of years ago.”
Carragher added that Arsenal’s status as champions could itself provide the platform for further progress, without the need to sign a marquee forward.
“The psychological factor of being champions now will take this Arsenal team to another level rather than buying a superstar player.”
