Ben Jacobs has revealed Arsenal‘s thoughts on signing either Victor Osimhen or Julian Alvarez before the summer transfer window closes.

The Premier League champions failed to pull off the blockbuster signing of Vinicius Junior from Real Madrid. The Brazilian put pen to paper on a new long-term deal with the La Liga giants.

A new attacker is still expected to join Mikel Arteta’s side and Alvarez has been on the club’s radar for many months. The Atletico Madrid forward has publicly confirmed he wants a new challenge, and Barcelona have also been eyeing the Argentine.

With Atleti playing hardball over Alvarez, Osimhen has emerged as a potential option for the Gunners. The Nigerian is currently at Galatasaray in the Turkish Super Lig but has previously been linked with a move to the Premier League.

Jacobs on Arsenal Eyeing Osimhen and Alvarez

via Reuters

Arsenal only signed a new number nine last summer when they forked out £55 million on Viktor Gyokeres. While a new left-winger has been a priority, it seems Arteta is prepared to swoop for a marquee centre-forward amid links with Alvarez and Osimhen.

Jacobs has given an update on the North Londoners’ transfer plans while speaking on the latest episode of GIVEMESPORT’s Market Madness podcast. He revealed that talks between the English club and Galatasaray had taken place over Ethan Nwaneri, but the young English winger isn’t keen on the move.

Osimhen’s name also came up, but Jacobs has insisted there are several stumbling blocks preventing a move for the former Napoli frontman:

Jacobs reckons Arsenal prefer Alvarez over the likes of Osimhen but are waiting to see if Atleti eventually agree to let him leave:

He added:

Arsenal transfer targets

Alvarez has been at the Riyadh Metropolitano since August 2024, when he left Manchester City for the Spanish giants in a £82 million deal. The Argentine has been in red-hot form under Diego Simeone, finishing last season with 20 goals in 49 games across competitions.

The 2022 World Cup winner has seemed eager to join Barca, but a move to Arsenal will appeal. He’d get the chance to prove he deserved more prominence under Pep Guardiola and return to the Premier League, where he may feel he has unfinished business.

Alvarez Makes More Sense Than Osimhen

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Arsenal know what they are getting from Alvarez, having faced him in the Premier League previously. He left City to take up a talisman role at Atleti, which wasn’t on offer at the Etihad due to Erling Haaland’s arrival.

The 26-year-old, dubbed “the best player in the world” by Fernando Torres, has developed into one of Europe’s most highly-rated attackers, and unlike Osimhen, he has a more versatile profile. That might be something Arteta and Andrea Berta take under consideration, as they ideally still want a left-winger, and he is capable of playing out wide and as a second striker.

Osimhen is the better goalscorer and a more traditional number nine who could be an ideal choice to lead the line at the Emirates. But if the Gunners were going to sign the Nigerian, it would have made more sense to swoop last summer and prioritise him over Gyokeres rather than move this time around when you’ve already signed a marksman.

Tottenham Hotspur signing a new striker before the transfer window closes has not been ruled out, with Freiburg striker Igor Mantanovic one player the club likes, according to GIVEMESPORT senior correspondent Ben Jacobs.

Tottenham have signed six players this summer as they look to soar up the Premier League table under Roberto De Zerbi this season, but there are more signings to come.

Spurs are already working on deals to bring Manchester City winger Savinho and Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as De Zerbi looks to add at least two new faces to his attack before the September 1 deadline.

Ideally, he would have at least one of those in place for the opening day trip to Brentford next Saturday.

A new striker is also a possibility, especially if Richarlison ends up leaving the club in the next few weeks having been linked with a summer exit, with Jacobs revealing one lesser-known name who is on the north London outfit’s shortlist.

Speaking on the Last Word on Spurs live stream, the GMS senior correspondent said:

“I heard Igor Mantanovic the other day at Freiburg, who has had a good year or so of goalscoring and is quite a young and interesting profile.

“I think it was about 15 goals in all competitions last season. Not necessarily the finished product, but one name to keep an eye on.”

Mantanovic Would Add Different Profile for Tottenham

Neither Richarlison nor strike partner Dominic Solanke are particularly short, but the 6ft 5in Mantanovic would give De Zerbi a new profile to work with, being more of a proper target man and focal point.

After a slow start to his career in terms of goalscoring, the Croatia international has burst into life over the course of the past two seasons, scoring 29 goals, while he also has two in 12 caps for his country.

Mantanovic’s strength in the air is shown by the fact that he won 83 aerial duels in the Bundesliga last season, with Richarlison and Solanke winning 89 combined in the Premier League.

The Croatian’s hold-up play and ability to win headers could play perfectly into the hands of Savinho and Gakpo if they end up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Savinho and Gakpo would have opportunities to run in behind the 23-year-old, who would also give both players a big target to aim for with crosses from out wide.

Mantanovic is far from just a hold-up player though, as shown with 11 goals from just 14 starts in the German top flight last term.

That clinical finishing ability will appeal to De Zerbi as he looks to bring more goals to his Spurs side this term.

What we do also know is that the Italian boss likes players with Premier League experience, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he opted to bring in a new striker who has played in England before.

Nevertheless, Mantanovic is an interesting target on the shortlist.

In the modern era, there are few better midfielders than Xavi Hernandez. The Spaniard was the beating heart of an iconic Barcelona side that is considered among the greatest sports teams of all time.

At Barca, he won five La Liga titles, three Copa del Rey titles and three Champions League titles, while also lifting the World Cup with Spain and two European Championships. In short, there were very few opponents Xavi came up against and struggled to deal with.

That said, there was one Englishman who made quite the impression.

Xavi Backed English Goalkeeper to ‘Succeed at Barcelona’

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Back in 2013, Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes was expected to leave at the end of the season. With his future in doubt, Xavi spoke about wanting an English player to come in and take the job.

As quoted by the Metro, the Barcelona star was keen on seeing Fraser Forster join him at the Camp Nou. He explained:

Messi Also Was Impressed By Celtic Star Forster

In hindsight, it seems quite strange to see one of the greatest midfielders of all time speaking so highly of a player like Forster. After all, the Englishman would only win six caps for his country between 2013 and 2016.

Forster left Celtic for Southampton in a £10m deal within a year of Xavi’s comments and spent eight years with the English club, including one back on loan at Celtic, before heading to Tottenham as back-up. He departed Spurs in 2025 and now, aged 38, plays for Bournemouth, although he is yet to make a competitive appearance for the Cherries.

The reason Xavi was such a fan, however, was that they’d met in the Champions League and the Englishman always seemed to step up. Playing against Barcelona on four occasions in total, Forster delivered perhaps the performance of his career when he helped his side pick up a shock 2-1 win in 2012.

It was so good, in fact, Lionel Messi later would claim it was the best goalkeeping display he ever saw, noting: “The performances of Fraser Forster against us were talked about for a long time. There was one game in Scotland where he was not human. It is the best goalkeeping performance I have seen.”

Adding to this, Xavi would also go on to name the former Celtic star in his all-time British XI. He explained: “Barcelona have met Celtic four times in recent seasons, and every time Forster put in an incredible performance. In the games we’ve played, he’s made some of the best saves I have ever seen.”

While Forster didn’t quite go on to have the career many expected of him, he will forever be able to proudly recall the night he left the likes of Xavi and Messi glowing with admiration.