Gyokeres vs Alvarez: Why Arsenal are eyeing a move for Atletico Madrid's star man

[p]Los Rojiblancos have already made it crystal clear that they're unwilling to sell their prized asset to LaLiga rivals [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a], and they've also been left smarting by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Real Madrid[/a]'s apparent offer for the diminutive Argentine.[/p][h2]Julian Alvarez wants Barcelona switch[/h2][p]The issue for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simeone-diego/AZ18LjKN/"]Diego Simeone[/a] and the board of the club is that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alvarez-julian/bBHauDIC/"]Alvarez[/a] has also made it apparent that he sees his future elsewhere, and Barcelona is his preferred destination.[/p][p]Though the way the player has gone about things isn't particularly palatable, that's a side issue at this point.[/p][embed guid="f221f179-0f4b-4433-8aed-c7f8a548feea" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2069163802172477569?lang=en" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atl-madrid/jaarqpLQ/"]Atleti[/a] genuinely need to decide whether they should hold on to a player who clearly doesn't want to be there, or bow to his will and allow him to go.[/p][p]Barcelona president Joan Laporta has squeezed them a little tighter by noting that the offer won't be on the table forever, so at this point, a real game of brinksmanship exists.[/p][h2]Arsenal move into the picture[/h2][p]If Atleti do accept that they need to move Alvarez on, because the situation that would otherwise fester is likely untenable, they'd surely prefer to sell him to a club outside the Spanish top flight.[/p][p]To that end, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] may well be their saviours.[/p][p]According to reports, the Gunners, who are known to have had a relatively long-term interest in the Argentinian, are willing to discuss the possibility of using [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gyokeres-viktor/zaBZ1xIk/"]Viktor Gyokeres[/a] as a makeweight in any deal.[/p][embed guid="e2956793-196d-4b78-9039-287d069dfe16" url="https://x.com/premierleague/status/2050666636156297401?lang=en" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Swedish international was the top scorer for the North Londoners in their 2025/26 campaign, and his 21 goals in all competitions were at least 10 more than any of his colleagues.[/p][p]However, his all-round game has often left much to be desired.[/p][h2]Scandalously poor output from Gyokeres[/h2][p]For example, of those players who could be considered regulars under [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arteta-mikel/lAbHYaQM/"]Mikel Arteta[/a], Gyokeres attempted by far the fewest passes (486). [/p][p]To give some context to that output, even those players who were either out injured or not selected as often managed more passes, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/merino-mikel/QFt86bm1/"]Mikel Merino[/a]'s 731 and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/martinelli/dITe5M88/"]Gabriel Martinelli[/a]'s 613 presenting a significant improvement over their teammate.[/p][image alt="Viktor Gyokeres radar graphic - Premier League 2025/26" id="4fb9bf7b-9464-4955-b907-b753b725f8cb" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="9623b180-d9e7-4712-9082-5038e26ec566" original-width="768" original-height="576" /][p]With a 63.79% pass completion rate to boot, the worst in the entire Arsenal first-team squad, there really is no saving grace for Gyokeres in this regard.[/p][p]Although only four Arsenal players contested more one-on-ones than the striker's 351, Gyokeres' 33.62% success was, again, the worst return of any player.[/p][image alt="Viktor Gyokeres' pass map - Premier League 2025/26" id="6823e2ff-ccac-4ae8-97e3-4976a11750ae" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="4dd72378-086a-471d-9d64-e87f85a062a6" original-width="768" original-height="576" /][p]Aerial duels, which one might consider his bread and butter, further evidenced an embarrassing lack of purpose.[/p][p]Of the 138 attempted (only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zubimendi-martin/fNI6Gsdr/"]Martin Zubimendi[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gabriel/tEcnVXMS/"]Gabriel Magalhaes[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/saliba-william/EgIM3sB7/"]William Saliba[/a] attempted more), only 44 were won. [/p][h2]Only eight tackles attempted last season[/h2][p]Looking at his tackle success rate of 62.5%, which is the third best in the squad, you'd be led to believe that the Swede at least works hard off the ball.[/p][p]That's until you realise that he only attempted eight tackles in the whole of the 2025/26 campaign, winning just five of them.[/p][image alt="Viktor Gyokeres' recent stats" id="bf688db7-eb18-4698-8774-ca8740fb0050" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="650962df-dc75-41a2-af29-7f2460e03724" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]Only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nwaneri-ethan/lxyovn2o/"]Ethan Nwaneri[/a] had the same incredibly poor output for this metric, but he at least had the excuse that he'd played just 515 minutes compared to Gyokeres' 3,479.[/p][p]The 94 aerial duels the striker lost couldn't be equalled either, so suggestions that he has been a goalscorer and little else wouldn't be an unfair reflection on his contributions last season.[/p][h2]Talks still at the earliest stages[/h2][p]Given that Simeone has worked with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sorloth-alexander/QwqgNkTP/"]Alexander Sorloth[/a] at Atleti, it isn't clear if the Rojiblancos would consider replacing the Norwegian with the Swede or play him alongside him in place of Alvarez.[/p][p]Of course, there's plenty of discussion that needs to take place in the interim before either club can fully progress negotiations, which are understood to be at the earliest stages at this point.[/p][embed guid="2b37d931-c4e3-4fc5-98c5-441c1e2bbdcc" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2069165923328467091" social-type="twitter" /][p]There's no suggestion that Gyokeres would be interested in a move to the Spanish capital either, though, as most players understand, when a club starts listening to offers for you or entering into discussions about you, the writing is on the wall.[/p][p]Alvarez's work rate is far in excess of Gyokeres', and whilst his potential hire would mean Arsenal going in a different direction in terms of how they build attacks, the Argentine's movement, desire and end product may be much more in keeping with what the North Londoners expect from their main striker.[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]