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Arsenal could have a route to sign Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez after news that the La Liga side are set to sign Ademola Lookman. Recent reports have claimed that a move for former Manchester City star Alvarez was discussed last summer.

The Gunners have reportedly been scouting the 26-year-old in recent weeks and are considering a move at the end of the season. Some reports have even claimed that Mikel Arteta's side may offer Gabriel Martinelliand Gabriel Jesus as part of a deal for Alvarez.

That seems an unlikely scenario at this stage, but there does seem to be genuine interest from the Gunners. Any move for the Argentinian won't be until the summer is expected to be far from straightforward, with Atletico keen to keep hold of him.

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However, Arsenal may have been given a glimmer of encouragement after Atletico confirmed Lookman - a former Gunners target - is set to join them in a £30m deal from Atalanta. Tottenham had also been linked with the forward but have missed out.

The Nigerian international is more of a second striker but is capable of playing as a centre-forward, meaning he could offer Atletico a ready-made replacement for the linked away star Alvarez.

Atletico also have Alexander Sorloth on their books, and the Norweigan has scored as many La Liga goals (7) as Alvarez this season. While striking a deal for Alvarez remains tough, Lookman and Sortloth's presence will no doubt provide Atletico with some comfort should they be forced to the negotiating table for the ex-Man City man.

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ESPN report the Spanish giants would reportedly demand a fee in excess of €100m (around £86m) to even consider selling. Further encouragement was offered last week when Gary Lineker shared on the Rest is Football podcast that the Argentine was unhappy in Madrid.

He said: “I saw they were linked with Julian Alvarez, who I know is not entirely happy with life at Atletico.. Now that is the sort of player you know can handle the big occasion – he’s a World Cup winner for crying out loud.

“Someone like that at Arsenal would be game over. But they do need one or two of these current forwards to start scoring on a reasonably regular basis.”

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has previously said the club are prepared to ease their injury problems by looking at signing new players in January. However, little business has been done yet, and any major moves before Monday's 7pm deadline seem unlikely at present.

Speaking last month, the Spaniard said: "The window is there and I mean we're Arsenal and we have to be looking at it; 'Okay, what do we need'? And we have to be actively looking and then, whether we can do it or not... that's a different story.

"But our job is to always be very prepared because something can happen, so hopefully it'll be very positive.

"When you look across the other clubs, they have 24 or 25 squad players. Although we have had more injuries than expected, some of them not avoidable.

"We want to be better and we know how important the part of having the right availability with players is going to be this season."

That being said, Sky Germany dropped a bombshell on Monday morning by claiming the Gunners were 'pushing' to sign Newcastle star Sandro Tonali. However, Newcastle have instantly played down any suggestions of a deal being done for Tonali.

In terms of Arsenal's summer plans, Andrea Berta is said to be looking at young defenders as well as Alvarez, with Real Madrid's Victor Valdepenas a name being heavily touted.