Arsenal head to Argentina for first summer signing
Published:This promises to be a big season for Arsenal as they look to at worst consolidate their position in the top four of the Premier League and they have made their first positive move of the summer by signing Ricardo Alvarez.
Most of the transfer activity involving Arsenal in recent weeks has related to players potentially leaving the Emirates, with Arsene Wenger seemingly having his hands full attempting to sort out the futures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.
Nasri only has a year remaining on his Arsenal contract and is stalling over an extension, while Barcelona are refusing to meet the transfer demands of the Gunners over Fabregas.
But the latest developments lead to the belief that Fabregas will be allowed to leave as long as Nasri stays.
Numerous players have also been linked with moves to Arsenal, but as yet there appears to be no clear developments regarding the likes of Christopher Samba, Gervinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
But based on comments from Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini, Arsenal have been busy securing the signature of Alvarez from Argentinean champions Velez Sarsfield.
He told Radio Kiss Kiss: “We did have a concrete bid for Alvarez and had him in our grasp back in January.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t complete the move in time, so we lost him to Arsenal. At this moment he has already signed for the Gunners.”
Velez also top the current Argentinean table, with Alvarez’ adaptability across all of the midfield positions being a major plus.
Arsenal face stern challenges from the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham if they are to remain in the top four this season as they look to retain their spot in the Champions League qualification positions.
It is 4/7 in the Premier League odds that Arsenal finish in the top four this season and 8/1 that they win the title.
