Gary Neville: Julian Alvarez Could Make Arsenal Champions League Contenders
Arsenal have started this season like a team that already knows how to win. Community Shield in the bag against Manchester City, a ruthless 3-0 dismantling of newly-promoted Coventry, the Emirates loud and content.
Gary Neville thinks they’re still one signing short of something far bigger.
The Sky Sports pundit believes that if Arsenal somehow prise Julian Alvarez away from Atletico Madrid in the final days of the window, the Premier League champions would instantly become Champions League favourites.
“What a squad [Mikel Arteta] has built,” Neville said. “If he puts another forward into that, if they could get Julian Alvarez somehow, that would light this place up as you'd have a world-class striker to go with all the world-class defenders and midfielders.
“They wouldn't just become Premier League title winners they'd go the next step and win a Champions League. It's a massive 10 days. He needs a bit of magic up front – someone that can win a game for you when you don't play well.”
Testing Atletico’s resolve
Alvarez is not exactly on the market. Atletico CEO Miguel Angel Gil has already made it clear this summer that the club do not want to sell the Argentina international and would not even accept £170m for him.
That has not stopped Arsenal, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain from circling. Neville’s message to Arsenal is simple: test Atletico’s resolve and see how serious that stance really is.
For him, the missing piece is obvious. Arsenal’s structure, their defensive solidity, their control in midfield – all of it, he says, is already at an elite level. The difference-maker now is a striker who can turn tight Champions League nights with one flash of quality.
Arteta keeps focus in-house
Arteta, though, struck a more measured tone after the win over Coventry. The Arsenal manager insisted his priority is still to refine what he already has.
“The main focus has to be to improve our players and the connection between them,” he said, pointing out how rarely Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Ben White actually played together down the right last season because of injuries.
That right flank, when fully fit, has long been one of Arsenal’s sharpest weapons. Arteta clearly believes there is another level to unlock there without needing a blockbuster arrival.
Neville, however, looks at Odegaard and sees a playmaker crying out for a different type of movement ahead of him.
“He [Odegaard] is exceptional. If there was an Ian Wright-type player up front for Arsenal who makes those short runs he'd be even better,” Neville argued.
“As [Kai] Havertz and [Viktor] Gyokeres always come to the ball, Odegaard has to play possession rather than playing the slip passes. If Arsenal were to sign Julian Alvarez then he'd go up a level as it would be perfect for the style of play.”
In Neville’s eyes, the Norwegian is already a conductor. Give him a striker who constantly darts in behind and between defenders, and the whole orchestra changes tempo.
Carragher: Arsenal still missing one world-class attacker
Jamie Carragher shares Neville’s sense that Arsenal’s attack is not quite complete, even if he views the internal solution a little differently.
“I still think Arsenal lack a world-class player in the front four,” Carragher said. “About two years ago I thought Saka and Odegaard would make that next step. For whatever reason it's not happened due to injuries or Arsenal not being at their best.
“Those two were close to getting to the levels shown by Man City and Liverpool players, like [Kevin] De Bruyne and [Erling] Haaland or [Mohamed] Salah and [Sadio] Mane. They took their teams to the title.
“Arsenal won the league without [Saka and Odegaard] doing it. They did it by having a great defence and goalkeeper. But I still think Saka and Odegaard can get back to where they were a couple of years ago.”
Carragher believes the psychological shift of being champions could be just as powerful as any big-name signing.
“The psychological factor of being champions now will take this Arsenal team to another level rather than buying a superstar player,” he added.
So while Neville is pushing for a marquee striker, Carragher is backing the existing stars to grow into that status.
Odegaard and Tzolis spark a new Arsenal look
On the pitch, the early signs suggest Arsenal’s attack already has a fresh edge.
At the Emirates, Sam Blitz watched a front line that looked sharper, more unpredictable – and crucially, deeper in options than many expected after a relatively understated summer window.
Vinicius Jr this, Morgan Rogers that... Arsenal, he argued, have quietly done their work.
Christos Tzolis, in particular, looks like a steal. After a quiet first five minutes, he exploded into life down the left, a constant livewire. Two shots, two chances created in a four-minute burst, and suddenly Coventry were hanging on.
The pressure told. Tzolis played a strong role in the two goals that killed the contest, first winning the ball high up the pitch for one strike, then swinging in the cross for Saka to finish for another.
Odegaard, though, remains the heartbeat. Fresh from a stunning display in the Community Shield, he opened his league account for the season against Coventry, matching his entire league goal tally from last season – a campaign in which he missed 30 matches in all competitions.
This was only the second time since December 2024 that Saka, Odegaard and Havertz had started together. All three scored.
Odegaard feels like a new signing. With three open-play goals already on the board, Arsenal look like a new team.
And that is where the debate sharpens. If this is what they look like without a Julian Alvarez, what might they become if Arsenal do decide to roll the dice in the final days of the window?
