Football
Arsenal are yet to finalise a deal for Viktor Gyokeres despite agreeing a fixed £55m fee for the Sporting CP striker over a week ago; Mikel Arteta has since taken his team out to Singapore and Hong Kong for a pre-season tour; Arsenal kick off their Premier League season on August 17
@SamBIitz
Monday 21 July 2025 09:03, UK
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Mikel Arteta has said he cannot comment on Arsenal’s pursuit of Viktor Gyokeres… yet.
It has been over a week since Arsenal agreed a fixed fee of £55m for the Sporting CP forward, after making a breakthrough in talks with the Portuguese club.
However, negotiations are still ongoing over the add-ons as part of the deal, with Sporting holding out for €10m (£8.7m). Further talks last week have been around the conditions of those bonus payments.
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Arsenal have since departed on their pre-season tour to Singapore and Hong Kong, with Arteta asked about whether Gyokeres will become a Gunners player before the start of the new season.
“I cannot comment on any player who is not part of our group yet,” said Arteta. “When we have something concrete to offer in any case to any player we will do that.”
So far this summer, Arsenal have completed deals for Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard and Noni Madueke – in a busy start to their first summer window under new sporting director Andrea Berta.
Gyokeres is not the only outstanding Arsenal deal in the pipeline with an initial £13m deal for Valencia defender Cristhian Mosquera close to completion.
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“I’m very pleased, that’s all I’ll say,” said Arteta about Arsenal’s business so far.
“There are a lot of parties and things that we have to bear in mind to get a player over the line and here. I’m very hopeful that we are going to do it very soon.”
Asked if he expects any new players to join Arsenal on their tour of Asia, Arteta replied: “There’s still a long time in the window and we are seeking still, in terms of numbers, we are short and we have to improve the depth and quality of the squad.
“We are constantly looking in the market. Until that happens, focus on the players we have and focus on them and I’m very pleased with what I have seen in the last 10-15 days.”
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Arteta also addressed the Gunners’ purchase of Martin Zubimendi – with the Arsenal manager revealing the Spanish midfielder turned down “some very good opportunities” to move to north London.
Zubimendi was close to a move to Liverpool last summer but opted to stay at Real Sociedad for another year.
Arsenal then swooped in for the Spaniard with Arteta playing his role in convincing the midfielder to choose the Gunners instead.
“It was a long, long process,” said Arteta about the pursuit of Zubimendi.
“He had a lot of opportunities to decide whether he wanted to come and and the good news is that this club is is amazing and everybody wants to come to it. And he left some very good opportunities to come to us and he’s very impressive.
“I think we are all very impressed with what we’ve seen in the last seven to ten days because once you have the player daily there and you see his character, you see his personality , his intelligence and how much it’s going to bring to the team, very excited about it.”
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