Julian Alvarez has performed a U-turn and now wants to join Arsenal, and a move could come as early as January, with one of two players served up as a makeweight.

Arsenal pushed hard to sign superstar-calibre forwards over the summer, though fell short on every occasion.

Moves for Morgan Rogers, Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez were explored. In Alvarez’s case, Atletico Madrid were willing to sell the Argentine who desperately wanted out, though Alvarez only had eyes for Barcelona.

Ultimately, Atleti refused to do business with a bitter rival, and despite a phone call from Mikel Arteta, Alvarez refused to give up on his Barca dream.

The end result saw Alvarez remain in situ, and with Barcelona now a leading contender to sign Erling Haaland if Manchester City receive a severe punishment for breaching FFP, Alvarez may never get his Camp Nou move.

Accordingly, our colleagues over on TEAMtalk recently brought news of Alvarez experiencing a change of heart on how he views a move to north London.

Their insider, Graeme Bailey, claimed Alvarez is now giving serious consideration to joining the Premier League champions.

What’s more, Arsenal are now intent on making a new attempt to sign the 26-year-old, and are willing to serve up household names as makeweights to sweeten the deal for Atletico Madrid.

Bailey namechecked Ethan Nwaneri (currently loaned to Borussia Dortmund), Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres as the trio Arsenal are willing to include as part of the terms.

Julian Alvarez chooses to sign for Arsenal – report

A fresh update from X account, TransferNewsLive, has not only echoed much of TEAMtalk’s reporting, but taken it a step further by declaring Alvarez “now wants to join Arsenal”, and a winter window move is in his thinking.

The account, which boasts over 3.2 million followers, cited Spanish football expert, Guillem Balague, as the source of their information.

They wrote: ‘Julián Álvarez now wants to join Arsenal and is seriously considering a January move to the Emirates.

‘Barcelona had previously been his preferred destination, but Arsenal are now emerging as his first-choice alternative.

‘The Gunners were prepared to pay over £100M in the summer and could include Viktor Gyökeres or Noni Madueke in a potential deal.

‘Álvarez does not see his long-term future at Atlético Madrid.’

Given Nwaneri is on a season-long loan at Dortmund, it stands to reason he’d only be relevant as a potential makeweight if the Alvarez deal were centred on a move next summer.

If Alvarez were to move mid-season, it’s Madueke or Gyokeres who Atleti would choose from as the sweetener.