Atletico Madrid star Julian Alvarez could take Arsenal to ‘another level’, says Martin Keown (Picture: talkSPORT) Martin Keown says Julian Alvarez could be the calibre of player to take Arsenal to ‘another level’ and help bring the club’s wait for Champions League glory to an end. Arsenal have set out their stall across a busy summer transfer window, eager to strengthen on the back of their Premier League title triumph under Mikel Arteta last season. After activating their £35million option to sign Piero Hincapie on a permanent basis from Bayer Leverkusen, the Gunners moved quickly to wrap up deals for Club Brugge winger Christos Tzolis and free agent Illan Meslier. While there was disappointment as Arsenal fell short in their pursuit of top attacking target Vinicius Junior, the £75m arrival of Bruno Guimaraes came as a statement to the rest of the league that Arteta’s side are determined to build on their success. Get the latest transfer news every morning Sign up to our daily football newsletter for personalised updates on who your team is trying to sign and who won't be around next season. A comprehensive Community Shield victory over Manchester City on Sunday was further proof of this renewed desire within the group ahead of the new campaign, with new signings Tzolis and Guimaraes both impressing on their full debuts in Cardiff. But Arteta is reportedly determined to freshen up his attacking options before the transfer deadline and the English champions continue to be linked with potential big-money additions such as Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen, PSG’s Bradley Barcola and Juventus’ Kenan Yildiz. Former Arsenal and England defender Keown believes it could be time to revisit a possible deal for Atletico Madrid star Alvarez, though, despite Diego Simoene’s insistence that the striker is not for sale. Arsenal have been credited with an interest in Alvarez for some time (Picture: Getty) The Gunners prevailed over Manchester City to claim an 18th Community Shield title on Sunday (Picture: Getty) Asked if there could still be a ‘missing link’ in Arteta’s squad after Arsenal’s 3-0 win over City, Keown told talkSPORT’s Jim White: ‘We’re talking about key signings and what they do next. Obviously that’s an area… European dominance, never mind domestic dominance, the next step. ‘Of course, the two strikers are under pressure to make that happen. ‘It may be that someone like Alvarez [could be the man]. He’s a player that they looked at last season, they thought about bringing in and that could be the sort of player they’re looking at. ‘They need to decide. That’s the key at the moment, is the decisions. The ambition is there but they’ve got to make key signings at the right times. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Arteta says Community Shield statement win proves Arsenal are 'ready for it'","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/08\/17\/7779755569864816200\/480x270_MP4_7779755569864816200.mp4","description":"Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal's desire \"to go straight again\" after Manchester City were overwhelmed 3-0 by the Premier League champions in the Community Shield.","duration":"T8M14S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/08\/17\/07\/110678029-0-image-a-8_1786947795231.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-08-17T07:22:17+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.ad