Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres is expected to complete his move to Arsenal from Sporting this weekend, with a £63.5 million deal reportedly in its final stages. The transfer was only held up by negotiations between the clubs regarding add-on payments.
The 27-year-old has been granted permission to travel for his medical and is anticipated to sign a five-year contract, officially becoming an Arsenal player within the next couple of days. The Arsenal squad is currently in Singapore for the first leg of their pre-season tour.
Speaking on Friday, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta remained tight-lipped about the pending acquisition, stating he “cannot talk about a player who is not ours yet.” However, he hinted that any new signing would join the tour as soon as possible to integrate with the team.
“For sure. Obviously once we have finalised everything with a player we want to integrate him with the team as quickly as possible,” Arteta said. “I think immediately is better, so they can start to join the team, get to know each other and get the ideas we want to put in their minds.”
Gyokeres has been a highly sought-after player this summer after a phenomenal season for Sporting, where he scored an impressive 54 goals in 52 games. Earlier this month, BBC Sport revealed that Arsenal had turned their attention to Gyokeres after hitting an impasse in their pursuit of Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig.
The search for an elite center-forward has been a protracted process for Arteta, who has been keen to bolster his attacking options. His side scored 17 fewer goals than Liverpool last season, ultimately finishing 10 points behind the Premier League champions. Arsenal did, however, recently increase their overall attacking firepower with the £55 million signing of England winger Noni Madueke, 23, from Chelsea last week.
Gyokeres’s scoring record speaks for itself; he bagged 97 goals in 102 matches during his two seasons in Portugal, helping Sporting secure back-to-back Primeira Liga titles. Before his move to Sporting for about £20 million last summer, he was one of the Championship’s most prolific strikers during his time at Coventry. He scored 43 goals in 116 appearances for the Sky Blues and was named in the Championship Team of the Year in 2022-23 as they reached the play-off final.
He made his Sweden debut in 2019 against Finland and has since earned 26 caps, scoring 15 goals.
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