Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Sporting striker Viktor Gyökeres for a reported fee of £55 million plus an additional £8.6 million in add-ons, per David Ornstein.
After a drawn-out transfer saga, Mikel Arteta and new sporting director Andrea Berta look to have finally got their man, with the 27-year-old having already provisionally agreed terms of a five-year contract.
Gyökeres is expected to undergo a medical early next week as plans for him to join Arsenal’s pre-season tour of Asia are finalised.
The Gunners have been linked with a big-money striker acquisition for several transfer windows, but Mikel Arteta and fans have been left frustrated time after time, having missed out on these targets in recent years.
Gyökeres had been a long-term target for the north London juggernauts, making their revived interest in the Swede this summer unsurprising, as Arsenal’s need for striking reinforcements persisted.
In truth, Arsenal had failed to ever adequately replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, a little over three years after the duo departed the club.
But the revelation of signing a striker who, in just two seasons for Sporting, has scored 68 league goals, as well as netting 11 goals in Europe, there is cause for optimism that the Gunners’ frontline can reach their former heights.
Gyökeres is not expected to be the only attacking addition at the Emirates before the new campaign gets underway, with a deal for Chelsea’s Noni Madueke reportedly complete pending a medical, while interest in Eberechi Eze and Rodrygo persists.
It will not be Gyökeres’ first taste of English football, with the striker having spent three years with Brighton & Hove Albion, during which time he spent time on loan with Swansea City and Coventry City before joining The Sky Blues permanently for two years.
Arsenal recover a deal that once looked in jeopardy
Just days ago, the Gunners’ pursuit of Gyökeres looked in jeopardy when Sporting president Frederico Varandas offered an ultimatum to Arsenal: put up or shut up.
“We’re calm. Everything can be solved with the closure of the market, a heavy fine and an apology to the group,” he said in an exclusive statement to Agencia Lusa.
“If they [Arsenal] don’t want to pay Viktor’s fair market value, we’ll be very comfortable with that for the next three years.
“If the geniuses who are devising this strategy think that this puts pressure on me to make it easier for him to leave, not only are they completely wrong, but they are also making it more complicated for the player to leave.
“No one is above the interests of the club. Whoever they are.”
In the end it was not Arsenal who had to make concessions, but it was instead Gyökeres’ agent, Hasan Cetinkaya, who facilitated an agreement.
The former Swedish youth international, whose agency also represents Frenkie de Jong among others, agreed to significantly reduce the 10 per cent commission of the transfer fee that Sporting would have owed him after a potential transfer.
This allowed Arsenal to structure a deal with only a marginally higher fee, while ensuring that the overall sum that Sporting pocket will be the same as their initial demands.
