Julian Alvarez is heavily linked with a move to Arsenal, after reportedly turning down the opportunity to join Barcelona.
The Atletico Madrid forward is widely believed to be heading for the exit at Riyadh Air Metropolitano, with a return to the Premier League his likely destination.
Alvarez won back-to-back Premier League titles and the Champions League during two seasons with Manchester City, though he was largely playing second fiddle to Erling Haaland at the Etihad Stadium.
But how would he fare against his competition at Arsenal? Let’s find out as we compare the relevant stats from last season…
Julian Alvarez analysis
Another goalscoring option
Alvarez scored 20 times for Atletico in all competitions last season, just one fewer than Viktor Gyokeres (21).
Although, just eight of those came in La Liga, which is less than he managed in both his seasons with City (nine and 11).
Gyokeres, by contrast, notched 14. The Swede also had a better xG (20.2) than Alvarez (18.77), while his and Kai Havertz’s conversion rate of 22.58% was significantly better (15.87%).
When it came to minutes per goal, Alvarez (190.45) had the lowest figure compared with Havertz (152.29), Gyokeres (165.67) and Gabriel Jesus (164.47).
Jesus posted the best xG (0.61) among the three Arsenal centre forwards and Alvarez (0.44), though the Argentine started five times (45) as many games as the Brazilian (nine).
An increase in creativity
Goals are your bread and butter when it comes to being a centre forward. As somebody once said: ‘It’s your job!’
What Alvarez also brings to the table is the ability to make goals. He was well clear of Gyokeres in this metric, with 10 assists across all competitions to his three.
Havertz chalked up five at an average of 0.42 per match, having played just under half the amount of games (24) compared to the Argentine (0.24).
If Mikel Arteta is looking for his centre forward to provide a creative link to bring team-mates into play, you would expect it to be a straight battle between Alvarez and Havertz for the jersey.
A little battler
He stands at five-foot-seven, but don’t think that puts Alvarez at a physical disadvantage by any means.
Six-foot-four Havertz won 42.04% of the duels he contested across 24 appearances in all competitions.
However, Alvarez wasn’t far behind him with a 38.76% success rate, while Gyokeres posted a success rate of just 33.62% in this regard.
That desire to battle, combined with Havertz’ frequent fitness concerns, may give the Argentine the nod ahead of Gyokeres.
