Barcelona agree shock £8.5m deal to sign Gabriel Jesus from Arsenal in latest twist in Julian Alvarez transfer saga

BARCELONA have made a shock move to sign Arsenal’s odd-attacker-out Gabriel Jesus. The 29-year-old is set to travel for a medical with the Catalan club after a fee of £8.5 million was agreed. Gabriel Jesus appears set to leave Arsenal, but he did win the Premier League before departing Credit: Getty Injuries sadly curtailed much of his Arsenal career and obviously reduced his fee Credit: Getty It’s believed there are add-ons to that fee and the medical is booked for Monday. The Brazilian hit the ground running after his £45m move from Manchester City in 2022. Sign up for the Arsenal newsletter Thank you! But two separate ACL injuries disrupted his impact on the team. He still managed 123 appearances for the Gunners scoring 23 times. It’s a twist in the long-running Julian Alvarez saga as Barcelona appear to have officially given up on signing the Argentina star amidst a very hostile reaction from his club, Atletico Madrid. The red-half of Madrid would be open to doing a deal with Arsenal, but Alvarez himself apparently only wanted to leave if it was for the Nou Camp. Barcelona were reportedly linked with a move for Victor Gyokeres if they didn’t get Alvarez, but they have pivoted to his team-mate. Does this mean Arsenal will get Alvarez or another forward? One would think Arsenal are planning to get at least one more body in if they do make just shy of £70m for Brazilian pair Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Julian Alvarez is going through a turbulent time at Atletico Madrid Credit: AFP But will it be Alvarez? The 26-year-old has returned to training with Atletico after he was booed out of the Metropolitano Stadium last time out. If he wants to leave the club, Arsenal would be his only real viable destination. The decision lies with him, but he has already told Arteta what he wanted. Although, it was rumoured that Manchester City could offer him a loan-deal escape. Arteta has also been keeping an eye on Juventus wide-man Kenan Yildiz, but it remains to be seen whether the Gunners could cough up the enormous fee the Italians would demand. Comment now