Chelsea and Man Utd urged to avoid £82m transfer mistake in bid to catch Arsenal

Chelsea and Man Utd urged to avoid £82m transfer mistake in bid to catch Arsenal Ben Fleming Published February 18, 2026 5:56pm Updated February 18, 2026 5:56pm Share this article via whatsappShare this article via xCopy the link to this article.Link is copiedShare this article via facebook Comment now Comments Chelsea and Manchester United are ready to spend again (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea and Manchester United have been warned that pursuing a deal for Julian Alvarez will not help them in their bid to catch Premier League rivals Arsenal.

Alvarez has spent the last two seasons at Atletico Madrid after joining from Manchester City for £82million, but has been strongly linked with a return to England ahead of the summer transfer window.

Arsenal and Chelsea have both been heavily linked with moves for Alvarez, who won the league twice with City, while the latest reports in Spain suggest that United are also keen on the Argentine.

Despite a relatively goal-shy year in Diego Simeone’s side, it is said that Atletico will demand in excess of €100million (£86m) for any club looking to prise Alvarez away from the Spanish capital.

However, former Premier League midfielder Andy Townsend is not convinced that spending that kind of money on the 26-year-old is the kind of signing that will help Chelsea and United close the gap on the current league leaders.

‘I like Julian Alvarez and I know he’s scored goals at Atletico Madrid but I’ve never quite seen him as someone who would make the difference for anybody else at the top of the Premier League to really kick on and go and grab the league out of Arsenal’s hands,’ he told Boyle Sports.

‘He’s clearly a clever footballer. He’s a good finisher. He had that brilliant knack for coming on and making the difference for City.

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Julian Alvarez has been linked with a return to England (Picture: Getty)

‘But I don’t know if he’s got enough to come in and play as the starting striker in the Premier League and be the difference for some of those teams trying to close the door on Arsenal. I don’t quite see that.’

However, Townsend did concede that a lack of world-class strikers in the market may force clubs to pay over the odds for a player like Alvarez rather than take a risk on developing a younger attacker.

‘So many people are always looking for that individual. Who’s going to come in and do what Harry Kane has done at Bayern Munich or what Erling Haaland does for City?’ he added.

Manchester United have reportedly entered the race to sign Alvarez despite signing Benjamin Sesko last summer (Picture: Getty)

‘There aren’t many out there, you know. Go back to my era and we could have had an hour on the best strikers in world football but they’re just not out there now because very few players can play the way Haaland does where he doesn’t get so involved in the general play.

‘Very few can play like that, not be involved and still get those devastating numbers that he does. Serie A used to always have a glut of top class strikers but they’re not there anymore in Italy.

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‘Kylian Mbappe is spoken for but I still question when we are going to see him at his best in a Real Madrid shirt because I don’t think he’s been anywhere near his top level for them yet, even with the numbers he’s got. He’s still probably the ultimate number nine of the modern game.

‘I think there are very, very few out there that would tempt you to spend over £100 million and maybe that’s why there is so much talk about Julien Alvarez.

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‘He might get a gig somewhere because when you actually sit and analyse it, you’ve either got to go and pay over the odds for Alarez or spend a lot of money on a gamble you hope you can develop into the real deal.’

Speaking in December last year about the speculation surrounding his future at Atletico, Alvarez said: ‘Look, it doesn’t bother me. I try not to pay much attention, but I know what’s being said.

‘It’s all over social media. I think it’s more what’s being said online than what’s actually happening.

‘I’m very focused on this season, on what lies ahead with Atletico Madrid. So, I try to tune it out and think about myself, about continuing to grow as a player, and about winning.’

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