Julian Alvarez is the type of transfer past Arsenal title winners missed

If Mikel Arteta thought ending Arsenal's 22-year wait to win another Premier League trophy was tough, it was child's play compared to his next challenge. Namely, getting the Gunners to do something they haven't done since 1935.

That's the last time Arsenal repeated as league champions. Fortunately, Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta can snap the way-too-long streak by getting a transfer for Julian Alvarez over the line, with the Gunners' ongoing interest in the Atletico Madrid and Argentina forward detailed by the BBC's Sami Mokbel:

"They retain a long-term interest in Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez, who is the club's priority target, but it remains to be seen if a deal for the Argentina international is possible this summer with Barcelona and Real Madrid also interested."

Sami Mokbel

Alvarez makes sense as a target in this summer's transfer window because he's what past Arsenal title winners weren't given. Namely, a goal-producing match-winner capable of adding a flourish to an already powerful squad.

Not following this blueprint wasted the best window the Gunners had to stack back-to-back titles.

Arsenal must avoid transfer mistakes that doomed past EPL champions

The Arsene Wenger era represented a golden opportunity for Arsenal to repeat as league champions. Unfortunately, Wenger's Gunners couldn't because they never compounded initial success with a timely infusion of elite talent.

Think about 1998 when Wenger shunned the chance to pay up and add Patrick Kluivert alongside Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka for his double winners, and instead kept undue faith in Christopher Wreh and Kaba Diawara. Ouch.

Times were already a-changing when Arsenal again won the double in 2002. The building of pricey Emirates Stadium had already been approved, and a decade-plus of fiscal belt tightening had begun.

Avoiding big spending was the safe move, but what if Wenger and David Dein had engineered a way to sign London boy Rio Ferdinand to partner Sol Campbell at the heart of defence? Or better yet, added another rising creative winger or free-scoring striker alongside Robert Pires, Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg?

Contrast what Arsenal wouldn't do with how chief rivals Manchester United operated. Alex Ferguson had no qualms about opening the checkbook to break the British transfer record in 1993, to add a young dynamo named Roy Keane to a title-winning midfield already home to Bryan Robson and Paul Ince.

More Ferguson-esque transfers saw Carlos Tevez added to a forward line led by Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney to help 2006/07's title winners repeat. A third title in a row followed when Ferguson splashed over $30 million to sign Dimitar Berbatov, despite the presence of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez in '08.

Ferguson understood why winning teams need to keep buying the best. It's how the rich get richer, but there's a deeper lesson here for Arteta and Arsenal's pursuit of Alvarez.

Julian Alvarez pursuit reveals a truth Arsenal ignored too often

What Ferguson also understood is the value of stockpiling match-winners at the business end of the pitch. You can never have enough, even if stronger defensive structure and resolve have underpinned much of Arsenal's revival on Arteta's watch.

The hidden truth is good defending simply gives a team a platform for success, but chance-creators and goalscorers ultimately secure the points that win titles. It's why Alvarez is a transfer Arsenal need.

He's a quick thinker, shrewd mover and cultured finisher. Alvarez is a player capable of magic, like when he conjured this goal to send La Albiceleste past Switzerland at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Arsenal lack a frontman with this level of flair, daring and efficiency. Alvarez would be the skilful counterpoint to the tireless running of Viktor Gyökeres, as well as somebody creative enough to manufacture more chances for clutch goalscorer Kai Havertz to take.

It takes a varied collective to dominate defences throughout a season, so the Gunners shouldn't swap a capable striker to sign Alvarez. Instead, Arteta and Berta need to add a high-profile difference-maker to what they already have up front.

History shows it's a winning transfer strategy for doubling up on titles.

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