Arsenal agree deal worth €73.5m for Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP – The New York Times

EPL
Arsenal are in the process of completing a deal to sign Viktor Gyokeres after taking final steps in negotiations with Sporting CP for the striker.
A deal in principle is in place, with an agreement of a €63.5million (£54.8m, $74.2m) fixed upfront fee plus €10m (£8.6m, $11.7m) in add-ons, while the striker’s agent has waived his fee to help facilitate the deal.
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Talks have been prolonged by Sporting president Frederico Varandas refusing to accept what Gyokeres believes was an agreement to leave this summer for €60m plus €10m of add-ons.
That amount is exceeded by Arsenal’s proposals and they have now made formal advances over terms of the switch in a bid to close the proposed transfer.
Gyokeres has not returned to pre-season training with Sporting amid his desire to join the Premier League club and a five-year contract is lined up.
The 27-year-old Sweden international emerged as Arsenal’s preferred target to recruit a specialist centre-forward and prioritised them over all other suitors, while manager Mikel Arteta wants him to join the squad at the earliest opportunity.
Gyokeres joined the Portuguese club in 2023 from Coventry City and has developed into one of Europe’s most in-demand players. Last season he scored 54 goals in 52 games as Sporting won the league title and cup double.
He would be Arsenal’s fourth signing of the summer window after midfielders Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard joined from Real Sociedad and Brentford respectively and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga arrived from Chelsea. The club have also agreed a deal for Chelsea winger Noni Madueke.
Arsenal were without a recognised No. 9 for much of last season as they finished second in the league, ten points behind champions Liverpool with 17 fewer goals scored.
Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus filled in for much of the season before getting injured in January and February respectively with midfielder Mikel Merino deputising in their absence late in the year.
The Athletic reported in March that Arsenal were developing a strong interest in Gyokeres – who had been admired for some time by their newly-appointed sporting director Andrea Berta.
Gyokeres made his Sweden debut aged 20 and has played 26 games at international level, scoring 15 goals.
Analysis by data writer Thom Harris
There’s quite an obvious appeal to Gyokeres when flicking through the numbers; his 68 league goals since joining Sporting two summers ago is well over double that of any other player in Portugal throughout that time, a brutal finisher, able to generate freakish power on either side.
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But there’s more to the Swede than just lasered shots and penalty-box poaching — Gyokeres is a prodigious runner, direct, explosive, and with the physical capacity to repeat those movements at high intensity.
As we can see from his SkillCorner run profile below — comparing his off-ball work to strikers across Europe’s top seven leagues — he’s often targeting the space in-behind, or pulling wide to run the channels, happy to take a defender out wide before powering inside and getting his shot away.

The Premier League, of course, is a different proposition, and while Gyokeres clearly has the physical capabilities to battle it out with the strongest of centre-backs, he may not be afforded quite as much space to attack for a side such as Arsenal, often pass-heavy and patient in their build-up. He also isn’t prolific in the air, without a single headed goal in league football last season.
But the Swede is a handful, a guaranteed goalscorer, a relentless runner, and a ruthless No. 9 who can turn half-chances into goals. If Premier League teams thought they had figured out Arteta’s Arsenal, this signing would add a new dimension.
(Photo: Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

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