Chelsea fans will be hoping to see the club strengthen their ranks in the upcoming summer transfer window. It has been a long time since the Blues made a statement signing. They have largely stuck to bringing in highly-rated youngsters to the club in hopes of them developing into first-team players.
The hope is that some change will be made to the club’s transfer policy. This is now the fourth season under the Clearlake-Boehly ownership. So far, they have not won any significant piece of silverware, except for the Club World Cup, and have only qualified for the Champions League once in three tries.
More quality and experience are needed for this squad to take the next step. One player who could provide that is Julian Alvarez.
The Argentine World Cup winner has been linked with a return to the Premier League lately. He had a successful stint at Manchester City before joining Atletico Madrid in 2024. Both Chelsea and Arsenal are believed to be interested in the forward.
Julian Alvarez’s transfer preference named amid Chelsea and Arsenal links
It is very clear that Chelsea could do with a world-class striker right now. Joao Pedro has been superb since the appointment of Liam Rosenior. But overall, he has managed to score just 13 goals in 35 appearances this season. That is not elite output.
Unfortunately for Chelsea, it looks like Alvarez does not prefer a move to Stamford Bridge. In fact, he might not be eyeing a return to the Premier League at all.
According to the Mirror, Alvarez would favour a move to FC Barcelona over a return to the Premier League. This is despite reported interest from Arsenal and Chelsea.
Alvarez prefers move to FC Barcelona over a return to the Premier League
Barcelona could find themselves in need of a striker soon as well. Robert Lewandowski is very much in the twilight of his career and is expected to leave at the end of the season. Someone like Alvarez could be a brilliant replacement.
That being said, Barcelona are not a club who have splashed the cash to sign players in recent times. On the other hand, it is believed that Atletico Madrid would look for a transfer fee north of €100 million to part ways with Alvarez.
So, there is still a decent chance that Chelsea could be in the running to sign Alvarez, if a move to Barcelona proves impossible.
