Respected journalist David Ornstein has revealed that Julian Alvarez is not currently willing to join Arsenal, despite having held talks with Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal have already spent heavily to strengthen their squad after winning the Premier League title last season, bringing in Bruno Guimaraes, Ezri Konsa, Piero Hincapie and Christos Tzolis.

Even so, Arteta’s side can still be seen as light in forward areas after missing out on Bradley Barcola, Morgan Rogers and Vinicius Junior this summer.

The Gunners continue to be linked with a number of possible attacking additions, with Atletico Madrid forward Alvarez widely reported as one of their main targets.

Since departing Manchester City, Alvarez has grown into one of the best strikers in world football, and he has been pushing for a move to Barcelona during this transfer window.

However, Atletico Madrid have made it very clear that they do not intend to sell Alvarez to Barcelona this summer, though they would be willing to do business with Arsenal.

Alvarez is viewed as a player who could take Arsenal up another level, and he is arguably an improvement on Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz.

But Ornstein said on Saturday morning that completing a deal for him will be difficult for Arsenal.

According to Ornstein, there is a “low chance” of Arsenal signing Alvarez because he has told Arteta that he “doesn’t want to come”.

Ornstein said on TNT Sports: “At the time of reporting, there is a low chance that Julian Alvarez comes to Arsenal.

“Atletico Madrid would do a deal with Arsenal. Arsenal are prepared to reach a club-to-club agreement, but they would want the player to want to join them.

“Alvarez has shown no indication of wanting to join at this point. He’s spoken to Mikel Arteta & said that he doesn’t want to come.

“That could change, these situations are always movable, so I don’t want to say it won’t happen, but right now, it’s NOT developing.”

This comes as a setback for Arsenal after Manchester United legend Patrice Evra claimed it would be “game over” for their rivals if the Premier League champions managed to sign Alvarez.

“If Julian Alvarez joins Arsenal, then it’s game over,” Evra said.

“I always say, if Arsenal have four good strikers, as Manchester United did with Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov and Cristiano Ronaldo, that’s the kind of squad you need to keep winning and winning.

“Mikel Arteta is not here to play around, he’s trying to show that last season was not an accident, and he wants to win more trophies. That’s why Arsenal are linked with these players.

“To win the Champions League, like we did twice but lost to Barcelona in a final, you need a massive squad.”