Arsenal star ‘offering himself to Barcelona daily’ as Deco gets desperate

A high profile Arsenal player is seemingly desperate to join Barcelona, and the Spanish champions are seeking a new signing in his position after yet another transfer miss.

Barcelona waved goodbye to legendary striker, Robert Lewandowski, over the summer, with the 37-year-old embarking on a new chapter in MLS with Chicago Fire.

The decision to let Lewandowski go wasn’t taken lightly given the veteran was still one of the world’s best frontmen despite his advancing age.

Nevertheless, a club with the pulling power of Barcelona probably thought it’d be a doddle signing a worthy heir, especially given they finally have cash to splash this summer.

However, their undisputed No 1 target, Julian Alvarez, has and will continue to elude them. Alvarez wants the move, but Atletico Madrid have determined once and for all there’ll be no sale to their fierce rivals this summer.

That decision has been communicated by Atleti’s CEO, Miguel Angel Gil Marín, while manager Diego Simeone and club president, Enrique Cerezo, have also confirmed Alvarez will remain in the Spanish capital.

Barca have looked at alternatives, including Club Brugge’s Nicolo Tresoldi and Sporting Lisbon’s Luis Suarez. However, Sporting are refusing to sell Colombian frontman Suarez for anything less than his €80m release clause, which Barcelona don’t want to pay.

That’s resulted in Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez coming under serious consideration, but there’s further bad news on that front too.

Per trusted Italian journalist, Gianluca Di Marzio, Martinez is ‘not on the market and is considered unsellable by the club.’

Martinez is Inter’s captain, their best player, the third highest scorer in their history, and contracted for three more years. Clearly, it’s a non-starter for Barca.

As such, the options are thinning for Barcelona’s sporting director, Deco, who in quotes carried by Fabrizio Romano, confirmed moves will be made in the final days of the window.

Deco declared: “We will be making some moves in the market”.

Viktor Gyokeres offering himself to Barcelona – journalist

And according to Spanish reporter, Victor Navarro, Deco and Barcelona will have better luck if making a move for Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres.

Taking to X, Navarro – who specialises in covering Barcelona – wrote: ‘Lautaro Martínez becomes, with the consensus of the entire club, the number one option for Barça.

‘Yesterday the club once again received the information that Gil Marín is vetoing Julián Álvarez.

‘Gyokeres is offering himself to Barça daily. [Nicolo] Tresoldi is very, very much liked at FCB.’

Gyokeres laboured in his first season at the Emirates last term. The Gunners did win the Premier League title, though the brutal reality is their successful campaign had very little to do with the limited Swede.

What’s more, Arsenal are known to be in the market for an upgrade on Gyokeres, with Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen a player of interest.

And given Gyokeres won’t be starting all that often this term – the fact he was benched in the Community Shield says it all – it makes sense why he’d reportedly want to jump ship to Barcelona who need a new starter up top.

Last term, Hansi Flick could call upon Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres when Lewandowski didn’t play. Rashford is now back at Manchester United, while Torres was sold to PSG.

Of course, Arsenal selling Gyokeres would only make sense for the Gunners if they do sign a replacement.