After the collapse of the Alvarez deal: Arsenal repeat Barcelona's move and receive the same slap

Telepathy?

Arsenal ended up walking the same road as Barcelona this summer after Julian Alvarez turned them both down.

The Argentine refused to move to Arsenal, clinging instead to his dream of pulling on the Barcelona shirt. Atletico Madrid, though, rejected the Blaugrana's offer.

Barcelona weighed up several alternatives. Among them was Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez, but the Argentine refused to move to Barca, and in the end they signed Brazilian Gabriel Jesus.

According to "The Sun", Arsenal also lodged an offer for Lautaro Martinez once they accepted that a deal for Julian Alvarez was off the table.

Mikel Arteta explored the possibility of bringing Martinez to the Emirates Stadium the moment it became clear Alvarez would not be leaving.

Inter Milan flatly rejected the North London side's late push for Martinez in the closing moments of the summer window.

Martinez himself confirmed the reports of Barcelona's interest, telling Sky Italia: "The rumours were true, but in the end I wanted to stay here with my team-mates, with these people, with these fans who have always been wonderful with me".

He concluded: "It is certainly a great pleasure, a great honour and immense satisfaction, because you are always working to improve, to move forward and to develop. When these offers or calls arrive from these big clubs, they are always welcome. It is something extremely important".