Arsenal transfer news LIVE: £128m Julian Alvarez boost, Igor Paixao blow, latest updates today

Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live Arsenal transfer news blog on Friday, August 28!

The Gunners will soon hit the road to meet Aston Villa in their second Premier League game of the season, with or without Julian Alvarez leading the line.

Stay entirely up to date with the latest Arsenal done deals and rumours with our social-led live blog below!

Today's Arsenal transfer headlines

Arsenal handed new Julian Alvarez boost

Could Illan Meslier leave Arsenal already?

Arsenal transfer news today: What's happening on August 28?

The Julian Alvarez situation took a fresh turn on August 27, as Arsenal's chances of signing the Argentina striker have improved significantly following Atletico Madrid's public declaration that they will not sell him to Barcelona under any circumstances.

Atletico described the Barcelona pursuit as a matter of dignity and issued a statement confirming a "0% chance" of a sale to the Catalan club, but crucially did not use the same language in relation to Arsenal, who are widely believed to remain interested and whose path could now be considerably clearer.

Alvarez has scored 49 goals and registered 17 assists in 107 Atletico appearances but was absent from training on Wednesday citing illness, adding to a difficult week during which he was booed by large sections of Atletico's own support after coming off the bench in a 2-2 draw with Villarreal.

However, Atletico have made it clear that they would still want around £128m to sanction the exit of the former Manchester City attacker, who is thought to be slowly warming to the idea of wearing a different shade of red and white.

Arsenal's pursuit of Feyenoord winger Igor Paixao - a possible Alvarez alternative - ran into difficulty, with both the Gunners and Sunderland suffering a blow in their attempts to sign the Brazilian, whom Marseille are confident of keeping.

A further complication emerged with one of Arsenal's summer signings - Illan Meslier - said to be attracting interest from another active club ahead of the September 1 deadline.