Steven Gerrard did not hide his delight at Arsenal’s failure to land one of their key targets in this summer’s transfer window.
Arsenal, who won their first league title since 2004 last season, bolstered their squad over the summer with the impressive signings of Bruno Guimaraes, Ezri Konsa and Christos Tzolis.
However, the Gunners did not have it all their own way in the transfer market, failing to land several top targets in their pursuit of a marquee attacking signing.
The Gunners explored a blockbuster move for Vinicius Junior, who rejected their interest to instead sign a new contract at Real Madrid, while Morgan Rogers opted to move to Chelsea instead of the champions.
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Arsenal were also keen to sign Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez, who went public with his desire to join Barcelona this summer.
And even when Atletico made it clear they would not sanction a sale to Barca, Alvarez never appeared keen on a move to Arsenal, an outcome which pleased former Liverpool captain Gerrard.
Speaking on TNT Sports about the saga, he said: ‘I understand his point of view, but Atletico Madrid don’t want to strengthen a rival and be a feeder club to the teams you can compete domestically with and in the Champions League, so you can understand it from a club point of view as well.
‘I’m just glad he didn’t go to Arsenal, I’ll just leave that one there!’
Fellow former Liverpool player Steve McManaman went further, insisting there was never any chance that Alvarez would have signed for the Gunners this summer.
‘He was never going to go, as if he wants to go to Arsenal,’ McManaman said. ‘He wanted to go to Barcelona; he came out and said that, but they’re not going to strengthen a rival.
‘Atletico Madrid paid £82million to Manchester City, he’s still got four years left on his contract. Let’s be honest, he’s got a cheek saying I want to leave and go to Barcelona when they are, apart from Real Madrid, your closest rivals.
‘So it was imperative that Atletico Madrid stood their ground and said no but he has to prove it to the fans and his teammates that he’s fully invested back in the team.’
Alvarez failed to get on the scoresheet at Anfield as his Atletico side lost 2-1 to Liverpool, but Gerrard remains confident that the Argentine can quickly win the Atletico fanbase back over again.
‘I think he’s got the manager’s trust and the manager’s backing and a goal and a good performance can obviously change a lot of things,’ Gerrard added.
‘But it will still be in the back of his head that maybe the chance of his dream move is gone and could be gone forever.
‘But he’s a top player, very exciting, very clever and it’s no shock that he’s wanted around the world. He’s a goalscorer, he’s inventive; I love watching him.’
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