Let Alvarez stay there. He doesn't want us, and the numbers being thrown out are insane.

MaroonTxAg03 said:

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Let Alvarez stay there. He doesn't want us, and the numbers being thrown out are insane.

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Agree, does he really improve the squad that much at this point?

This happens every year with a talented attacker at Atletico Madrid. It's where attackers go to die. Not sure why anyone would want that move at this point. It's Alvarez's own fault for ever moving there.

Maybe also don't sign a 6 year deal with a 500m buyout clause if you know you aren't where you want to actually be

gougler08 said:

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MaroonTxAg03 said:

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Let Alvarez stay there. He doesn't want us, and the numbers being thrown out are insane.

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Agree, does he really improve the squad that much at this point?

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Nope.

I really hope we back off of Alvarez. Not worth it to drop 100m and then he try to force his way to Barca in 1-2 yrs.

Tzolis has shown enough that I am ok with him as the starter and going after young high potential for the backup.

Im ok selling Vik for a profit if he insists on going but I don't think we need a big dollar signing at ST. Go get Kofane or a similar young understudy that can take over in a year or 2.

1 exception to the Alvarez thing..... I would take him on loan. Let him have a "prove it" tour and it doesn't cost us much outside of salary.

Nope, and as some others have alluded to in this thread it destroys the team profile on multiple levels. We are struggling, as usual, to sell players as it stands for a decent amount.

We currently gave depth snd a good amount of youth. I cringe at the thought of giving away the farm already, and it adds insult to injury that he doesn't want to be here and that news has been very public.

Utilizes the depth, rotate the squad, keep them as fresh as possible, and pray for health at this point. This is just a senseless gamble to me.

If you are gonna buy him with the intent/knowledge that he likely leaves next summer you 100% have to make a profit on the deal.

What about (rounding numbers down to make it easier).... Buy for 100m, include a 200m release clause but give Alvarez the opportunity to reduce the RC down to 150m IF certain conditions are met.... Win EPL 10m off, Win CL 10m off, score 30 G+A across all comps 10m off......

My only depth concern right now is what are we doing with the left wing. Tzolis looks great, but we've sold Trossard and are doing our hardest to sell Martinelli. Arteta like to play Eze out there but he never actually plays LW when he comes on. Madueke can play there, but very inconsistent as a player.

If you got Alvarez, that really isn't his position. Who else is available.

chjoak said:

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If you are gonna buy him with the intent/knowledge that he likely leaves next summer you 100% have to make a profit on the deal.

What about (rounding numbers down to make it easier).... Buy for 100m, include a 200m release clause but give Alvarez the opportunity to reduce the RC down to 150m IF certain conditions are met.... Win EPL 10m off, Win CL 10m off, score 30 G+A across all comps 10m off......

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Atletico doesn't want him at Barcelona and I would say "screw that" if I were them.

Adrian Clarke made this point on a podcast…if you think Kroupi is the right guy longer term, go try to make a deal for him even with the injury.

TXAggie2011 said:

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chjoak said:

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If you are gonna buy him with the intent/knowledge that he likely leaves next summer you 100% have to make a profit on the deal.

What about (rounding numbers down to make it easier).... Buy for 100m, include a 200m release clause but give Alvarez the opportunity to reduce the RC down to 150m IF certain conditions are met.... Win EPL 10m off, Win CL 10m off, score 30 G+A across all comps 10m off......

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Atletico doesn't want him at Barcelona and I would say "screw that" if I were them.

Adrian Clarke made this point on a podcast…if you think Kroupi is the right guy longer term, go try to make a deal for him even with the injury.

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If he comes to us, Atleti has no say in him moving to Barca. Hell we could turn around and sell him in Jan if we wanted.

My suggestion has more to do with the deal you offer Julian. You guve him an out if he wants it but only if Barca pay the clause and Barca gets a better deal if he performs.

wangus12 said:

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My only depth concern right now is what are we doing with the left wing. Tzolis looks great, but we've sold Trossard and are doing our hardest to sell Martinelli. Arteta like to play Eze out there but he never actually plays LW when he comes on. Madueke can play there, but very inconsistent as a player.

If you got Alvarez, that really isn't his position. Who else is available.

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Cody Gakpo appears available, I guess

I'd rather keep Martinelli and sell Madueke if we need to offload some salary for the financial rules. But Arteta seems to really like something about Noni

I'm just saying if I am Atletico I am not selling Alvarez knowing or under suspicion that Alvarez is negotiating a way to still end up at Barcelona in a year

Then they aren't gonna sell him at all

chjoak said:

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Then they aren't gonna sell him at all

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Or they will but will insist on a fee they believe is beyond Barcelona's reach. Or they'll require some assurance there isn't any funny business in his contract.

I agree. They don't really get a say in what we would do with Alvarez but I would still say "screw that" if I were them and thought this looked much too weighed towards Barcelona's favor.

Apparently Ituano get 15-20% of the Martinelli fee. Thats gonna be huge money for a team in the 3rd or 4th tier of Brazilian football.

Also that really sucks for us. We're already getting paid way under what his actual value would be

Agree with this. We know what we have in Marti. Eze hasn't been strong from the left, and doesn't provide the same level of press as Marti. I was excited about how direct Noni is on the ball at first. It just rarely seems to produce a goal scoring effort. If I had to pick one to go, it's probably him in this scenario.

feels like we have to sell someone. At this point, Jesus won't yield us much, even if we can move him. It'd be nice to keep marti as a super sub type. He's inconsistent as we know, but that breakaway speed can open up a lot of doors, even if he's not necessarily scoring goals. He's a great tool to have in the toolbox....I just don't think he wants to be a situational sub, and his quality is better than that (for the right team).

also, I hate how clean these chelsea kits are. damnit.

Agree. Starting to feel like we are giving him away. Seems like Arsenal should be getting at least 60M for a player of his quality.

zgolfz85 said:

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also, I hate how clean these chelsea kits are. damnit.

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I was just thinking they look like 8 year olds on school picture day.

agdoc2001 said:

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zgolfz85 said:

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also, I hate how clean these chelsea kits are. damnit.

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I was just thinking they look like 8 year olds on school picture day.

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I think i just like the cleaner logo.

Playing around with ChatGPT to try and find some potentially "cheap" options that could replace Marti. It suggested.....

Antonio Nusa
Malick Fofana
Ibrahim Mbaye - PSG 18yo. Linked with pool. PSG asking 70m euro.
Dario Osorio - 22yo in the Danish league. Linked with us and pool in the last 3-4 days.

chjoak said:

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Playing around with ChatGPT to try and find some potentially "cheap" options that could replace Marti. It suggested.....

Antonio Nusa
Malick Fofana
Ibrahim Mbaye - PSG 18yo. Linked with pool. PSG asking 70m euro.
Dario Osorio - 22yo in the Danish league. Linked with us and pool in the last 3-4 days.

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I like Mbaye; expensive, but I don't think it'll sound that expensive in a year or 2

Nusa has some positives but not sure his ceiling is much higher than Marti.
Fofana was the "it guy" until he got hurt. No proof that he has rebounded yet.
Like Mbaye's age (he would be HG) but have not seen him play. Would have a better chance of PT at pool or us.
Osorio has some really nice highlights (albeit in a sheet league) but he plays mostly on the right.

In the past 12 hours, speculation suggesting that Arsenal are considering a move for Marseille attacker Igor Paixao has been bubbling away in France. For now, the credibility of these rumours remains unclear.

— Z (@ZRAFC) August 25, 2026

To me he looks like a more mature version of Marti

From Ornstein on and Athletic Podcast.....

Quote:

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Alvarez is not keen on a move to the premier league. He only wants Barcelona. We've heard talks of that stance softening a bit, but unless there's concrete evidence that he wants to return to PL and join Arsenal, it appears he will stay at Atletico Madrid.

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chjoak said:

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From Ornstein on and Athletic Podcast.....

Quote:

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Alvarez is not keen on a move to the premier league. He only wants Barcelona. We've heard talks of that stance softening a bit, but unless there's concrete evidence that he wants to return to PL and join Arsenal, it appears he will stay at Atletico Madrid.

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Good

chjoak said:

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From Ornstein on and Athletic Podcast.....

Quote:

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Alvarez is not keen on a move to the premier league. He only wants Barcelona. We've heard talks of that stance softening a bit, but unless there's concrete evidence that he wants to return to PL and join Arsenal, it appears he will stay at Atletico Madrid.

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Good riddance. He's a top player, but not the 150m tier and not worth the drama that he will inevitably cause to get to Barcelona.

Hope Atleti make him rot for his whole contract

can we for the love get some finality on this marti/alvarez stuff

English media claiming that Atleti want it resolved by Fri. I've also seen some sketchy instagram rumors that Alvarez declined Arteta's last call but is also skipping training.

Don't know who this is but.....

(🌕) JUST IN: A journalist close to Julián Álvarez, @arielsenosiain:

"Yesterday, Julián Álvarez was feeling unwell and the doctor found him physically weak. Julián believes his condition is linked to the situation he is currently going through that he wants to leave the club.… pic.twitter.com/vDOOelShHV

— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) August 26, 2026

Quote:

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"Yesterday, Julin lvarez was feeling unwell and the doctor found him physically weak. Julin believes his condition is linked to the situation he is currently going through that he wants to leave the club.

"Julin said no to Mikel Arteta. Arsenal were willing to pay 125M + 10M in add-ons, a fee Atltico were prepared to accept."

"However, because of an issue involving his parents' visas, Julin decided to remain in Spain for now, although Arsenal are still willing to wait for him.

"At this point, the option he is betting on is that, on the final day, Barcelona do something they have not done so far

"Atltico will do everything possible to avoid selling Julin to Barcelona."

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yeah who knows if true, but if it is and if not getting barca is making him physically ill, I hate him more than I already did.

Let's just move the **** on from this guy. His most impressive production is in CL anyways.

I think we have the current roster to be a top 2-3 squad (injuries, luck and weird outcomes determine too many EPL matches to say we are de facto top club). Probably a reliable LW away from being THE top team, but the team culture and makeup is so much better than years past. Obviously Arteta is much closer to the situation than me, but not sure why you mess with that for a guy like Alvarez. Tzolis looking amazing certainly put the governer on the urgency to fix the LW immediately. I guess I did not appreciate the speed Tzolis has when we signed him. Was thinking poor mans Troussard, but he's trouble for anyone on the left side in a way Troussard wasn't.

That all said, if CL is the real prize here, we are going to have to swing for the fences on a few front end threats. We are single threaded in some areas and that is usually not the mark of CL winners.

Texas_Ag11