Arsenal's Ambitious Winger Pursuit: Barcola and Alvarez
Leandro Trossard’s departure to Besiktas felt like more than a tidy piece of business. It was a signal. Arsenal’s wide areas, once a picture of depth and variety, are being stripped back and reimagined. One winger gone. Another, Gabriel Martinelli, very much on trial.
Inside the club, the conversation is blunt: does Martinelli still fit Mikel Arteta’s next evolution, or is he the asset to cash in on to fund it?
The Brazilian, once untouchable in the eyes of many supporters, is no longer guaranteed that status. Arsenal want room in the squad and on the wage bill. They also want a higher ceiling on the flanks as they prepare to defend their Premier League crown and mount another assault on Europe in 2026-27. That combination tends to put even popular players at risk.
And it leads them, inevitably, to Bradley Barcola.
Barcola: The winger who hurt Arsenal – and might now help them
Barcola is not a hypothetical name plucked from a scouting database. Arsenal know him up close. He helped shatter their Champions League dreams last season, part of a Paris Saint-Germain side that retained the trophy and underlined its authority on the European stage.
On the biggest nights, alongside Kylian Mbappé and Michael Olise, Barcola did not look out of place. He looked dangerous.
Yet he is not the undisputed starter his talent suggests he could be. At PSG, the left and right channels are a battlefield. Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia all scrap for the same minutes. In that kind of environment, even a 23-year-old with World Cup credentials can find himself rotated, repositioned, or simply waiting.
His contract at Parc des Princes runs to 2028, but the 2026 summer window has opened with a familiar undertone: if the offer is big enough, PSG will at least listen.
For Arsenal, that is an invitation.
The club’s history with French talent is long and rich. From Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry through to more recent imports, the Emirates has often been a natural home for players crossing the Channel in search of a starring role. Barcola would fit that lineage neatly: young, explosive, already proven at the highest level, but still with room to grow.
Mikaël Silvestre, who knows both PSG’s world and Arsenal’s dressing room, sees the fit as obvious. Speaking to GOAL, he made his stance clear, calling a move for Barcola “an obvious choice for both the player and the club” and a “green light… 100%” given what the winger has shown for PSG and France and what Arsenal are trying to build.
Retain the title. Win the Champions League. That is the brief. Barcola, in Silvestre’s eyes, ticks the boxes.
Premier League scramble for firepower
Arsenal, though, are not alone in this chase.
Liverpool have their own looming problem: life after Mohamed Salah. Manchester United, back in the Champions League, need more than just a tweak in attack; they need a new edge, a new threat.
From Old Trafford, Dwight Yorke has already nailed his colours to the mast. Speaking to GOAL, he named Barcola and Desire Doue as the two wide forwards he would go after if he were Michael Carrick. His reasoning was simple: they can play left, right, or wherever the attack demands, and they produce.
Yorke went further, linking their versatility to the uncertainty around Marcus Rashford’s future. If Rashford does not stay or cannot recapture his best, Yorke’s answer is direct: “go and get Doue or Barcola.”
So Arsenal’s interest sits in a crowded marketplace. Wait too long, and the winger who hurt them in Europe could end up strengthening a domestic rival instead.
Alvarez: the £120m question
Barcola is not the only marquee name on Arsenal’s radar.
Inside recruitment circles, the idea of pairing Viktor Gyökeres with Julian Alvarez has grown louder. Alvarez, fresh from another World Cup final appearance alongside Lionel Messi in 2026, remains one of Argentina’s most influential figures. For his country, Silvestre argues, only Messi has been more impactful.
At club level, Alvarez’s current chapter at Atletico Madrid has showcased his quality but not yet delivered the trophies his performances arguably merit. A move, though, will not come cheap. Reports suggest a deal could reach £120 million.
Silvestre is convinced about the player, if not the outcome. He describes Alvarez as loyal and questions whether the forward is ready to move, but he does not doubt the fit. On this season’s evidence, he believes Alvarez would be a “great signing” for Arsenal’s frontline.
Picture it: Gyökeres as the relentless focal point, Alvarez drifting, linking, finishing, Barcola tearing at full-backs from the wing. That is not just depth. That is a front line built to bully Europe’s best.
Big calls, big cheques
All of this ambition comes with a cost. To move for Barcola, to even think seriously about Alvarez, Arsenal must make hard decisions.
Trossard has already gone. Martinelli might follow if the right bid lands and if Arsenal decide that the next phase demands something different on the flank. The club will argue that this is what elite sides do: refresh from a position of strength, trade sentiment for another step up.
The 2026-27 season will not judge Arsenal on whether they kept a fan favourite. It will judge them on whether they evolved quickly enough to stay ahead of Liverpool, to stay ahead of Manchester City, to fend off a resurgent United, and to finally crack the Champions League.
If that means betting heavily on Barcola and pushing the limits for Alvarez, the question is no longer whether Arsenal are interested.
It is whether they are ready to go all the way.
