Julian Alvarez leaving Atletico Madrid is "inevitable", and Arsenal are at the head of the queue for the former Manchester City man, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has exclusively told Sports Mole.

The Gunners tried in vain to prise Alvarez away from the Wanda Metropolitano in the summer, when the Argentina international shut the door on Mikel Arteta due to his desire to join Barcelona.

Atletico emphatically stated that they would not consider selling Alvarez to the La Liga champions, and the striker ultimately remained in the Spanish capital for the first half of the 2026-27 campaign at least.

However, Alvarez is yet to start a La Liga match this season, albeit while making the first XI against both Liverpool and Manchester United in the Champions League, and his future has remained a major talking point over the last several weeks.

Arsenal are apparently ready to try again for the ex-City attacker, but in a fresh twist, Alvarez has reportedly parted ways with his agent and is now set to start working with Pablo Barquero, who represents Barcelona new boy Rodri.

Barquero's strong relationship with the Blaugrana hierarchy could potentially help facilitate a move to Camp Nou for Alvarez, but ex-Atletico striker Hasselbaink cannot see Barca beating Arsenal to the attacker.

Hasselbaink backs Arsenal to win Julian Alvarez transfer race

Asked by Sports Mole how he expects the Alvarez/Barcelona/Arsenal saga to play out, the Dutchman replied: "I think an exit for Julian Alvarez is inevitable.

"I think he will go eventually, but he won't go to Barcelona. Atletico Madrid won't sell him to Barcelona. They just won't. I think it will be a Premier League club, and I think it will be Arsenal."

Alvarez remains contracted to Atletico Madrid until the end of the 2029-30 season and has made 112 appearances for the club in total, scoring 49 goals and setting up 18 more in all competitions.

However, the South American still waiting for his first goal of a disrupted 2026-27 campaign, although he is expected to make his first La Liga start of the season when Atletico face Espanyol on Saturday.

Atletico paid £63.2m to sign Alvarez from Man City in the summer of 2024, and the Rojiblancos would be expected to demand north of £100m to part ways with the former River Plate starlet in either January or at the end of the season.

Could Arsenal pull off Julian Alvarez, Viktor Gyokeres swap deal?

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has settled on Kai Havertz as his first-choice centre forward this season, after Viktor Gyokeres ended his debut campaign as the Gunners' top scorer with 21 goals in all tournaments.

The Swede is yet to find the back of the net or provide an assist in seven games this season, though, including in three starts against Lille, Napoli and Ipswich Town across the Champions League and EFL Cup.

Nevertheless, Atletico had been credited with a strong interest in Gyokeres over the summer, giving rise to the possibility of a part-exchange deal with Arsenal for Alvarez.

Should Gyokeres continue to struggle for starts in North London, and Atletico refuse to entertain the idea of selling Alvarez to Barcelona, such a deal must be at the forefront of Andrea Berta's mind in 2027.

However, the feasibility of such a transaction still depends on one factor - Alvarez's willingness to join Arsenal, which remains non-existent for now.