Atletico Madrid have set a deadline. Julian Alvarez has until Sunday to decide whether he stays in Madrid or opens the door to Arsenal, and Sky Sports News has it that the club themselves are now open to selling.
That's a shift from Monday, when this was a £130m Arsenal push and nothing from the other end. Now it's the selling club forcing the issue.
Deadlines like this usually mean somebody wants a decision they already know the answer to. You don't hand a player a 48-hour window if you're confident he's staying. Whether Arsenal can actually fund it at this price, this late, is the bit I'd want proof of.
And it's the striker question again. Arsenal spent last season scoring plenty without a settled number nine, and Alvarez would end that argument in one go. He'd also cost a fortune at the very moment the window shuts.
Marli Salmon's first professional contract came into effect today, on his 17th birthday. The club had the pre-contract agreement in place back in April, so this is the formality rather than the news — but he's already got a competitive debut behind him, away at Club Brugge in the Champions League last season.
Centre-back or right-back, and comfortable enough at senior level to get on the pitch in Europe at 16. Arsenal have not had many of those.
The Carabao Cup tie with Ipswich has a date. Villa Park on Monday is the one that matters this week, and the training pictures suggest a full week's work has gone into it.
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