He’s like a young Alvarez: Arsenal line up deal to sign £87m Premier League star

Whatever happens in Saturday’s Champions League final, it’s still been a remarkable season for Arsenal, the culmination of so much hard work, so much careful planning, so much patience.

The question now, however, is after finally ending a 22-year wait for the Premier League title, will this merely be the end of the chapter for Mikel Arteta and co, or the start of something even greater?

You only have to look to Liverpool to see the perils that befall the reigning champions, the Anfield side enduring the worst swing in the division with regard to the difference in points between 2024/25 and 2025/26.

The Merseysiders went big to try and press home their advantage, yet a string of marquee deals have all largely backfired, a lesson to be learned as the Gunners head into another key summer window.

There’s no need to rip things up at the Emirates, certainly not, but a sprinkling of extra firepower certainly wouldn’t go amiss.

Arsenal in the mix to sign £87m Premier League star

It’s no real secret that the player Arteta and co truly want is Julian Alvarez, with reports indicating that the Gunners have already explored a possible deal for the Atletico Madrid star this summer.

Unfortunately, the Argentine appears to have his heart set on a move to Barcelona instead, the LaLiga giants set to follow up their surprise signing of Anthony Gordon by attempting to snap up the 26-year-old as well.

The ship has sailed then from an Arsenal point of view, it would seem, ensuring attention could turn to other leading targets instead.

Indeed, as reported by talkSPORT, the Gunners remain in the mix, alongside Manchester United, for the signing of Bournemouth starlet, Eli Junior Kroupi.

The report outlines that the Cherries are intent on keeping the Frenchman, while his €100m (£87m) release clause doesn’t come into effect until next summer.

The north Londoners appear to be lurking, regardless, and have been ‘credited with an interest’, suggesting that this may well be a deal to keep an eye on.

Why Kroupi could be a perfect Alvarez alternative for Arsenal

Having splashed out £63.5m on the physical, focal point of Viktor Gyokeres last summer, the addition of a more mobile, versatile forward would be a wise move this time around, hence the interest in Alvarez.

The type of player who can play all across the frontline and could even be a solution on the left flank, the World Cup winner is such a supreme forward, the type of player you simply can’t pigeon-hole or pin down.

It’s early days, but there is a similar feel to young Kroupi, following his breakout first season in the Premier League, with the teenager already being hailed as “one of the best finishers” in the league by pundit, Daniel Sturridge.

Like Alvarez, the 19-year-old is of slight stature, yet has coped superbly in the rigours of English football, scoring 13 goals in just 21 starts, operating off the left or in a number nine role.

As a result, he boasts the best tally of any teenager in their debut Premier League season, eclipsing Robbie Keane and Robbie Fowler, doing so with a rate of one goal every 130 minutes, having actually only missed three ‘big chances’.

For comparison, while Gyokeres did score 14 in his own debut campaign at the Emirates, the 27-year-old Swede netted at a rate of one every 161 minutes, while missing 13 ‘big chances’.

Kroupi’s record is actually similar to Alvarez’s first season in the division at Manchester City, having ended 2022/23 with nine league goals from just 13 starts, scoring once every 165 minutes and missing only four ‘big chances’.

Like the Frenchman, Alvarez arrived as a relative unknown from River Plate, yet quickly emerged as a vital figure in Pep Guardiola’s squad, before truly earning superstar status with Atleti.

In Kroupi’s case, there has been no real need for adaptation either, having seamlessly transitioned from life in France’s second tier, after netting 22 goals in Ligue 2 for Lorient last season.

He’s an “insane” talent, in the view of scout Jacek Kulig, and will surely be on his way out of the Vitality Stadium at some stage in the next few years, with the south coast side already proving the perfect platform for the likes of Dean Huijsen and Antoine Semenyo.

Alvarez might be who Arsenal really want, yet if it is an elite finisher and a versatile forward that Arteta is after, Kroupi might well be the next best thing.