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The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Inside Arsenal's move for Viktor Gyokeres - and why he will change the title race
When Arsenal finally accelerated plans to get a striker this summer, they had one fixed line. That was not to go above £65m. Such a figure might make it sound like they weren't that serious about a striker - and there have been some questions about the exact level of the talented Viktor Gyokeres - but then this wasn't quite about getting the striker anymore. It was about options, and having enough to finally win the title. This is the defining trait of Arsenal's summer so far, which is that Mikel Arteta is determined to address the key flaws of last season. Having claimed 89 points in 2023-24, Arsenal fell away because they didn't have enough depth, with overuse ultimately leading to fitness issues, and not enough forward options. Their benches at the end of the season were often strikingly thin, resulting in the attack becoming overly dependent on Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. That in turn made Arsenal easier to predict, which only accentuated their problems. So, Arteta has already brought in more bodies, which is why Cristhian Mosquera and Noni Madueke have signed. They alleviate pressure in terms of wear. Next is the pressure he wants to exert on opposition. It isn't exactly a new point to say Arsenal haven't been the overwhelming all-angle attacking force they were over 2022-23 and in the 2023-24 run-in, which opposition coaches genuinely used to marvel at. The aberration is really because Arteta generally used the same core players throughout those periods, which was never going to be sustainable. That's also why there may be some other value in signing a £65m-level forward, if they can't get an absolute £150m guarantee like Alexander Isak, with the Newcastle star now pushing for a move after the Gunners settled on Gyokeres. The manager obviously doesn't want to discard Kai Havertz. Arteta loves him. If that surprises some of the German's detractors, it is because Havertz's understanding of the manager's pressing system is up there with anyone else in the squad. He gets it. That is why Arteta has balked at buying other forwards in the past. It's not just about goals. It's about how integrated the pressing triggers are. If one goes wrong, it all breaks down. Arteta feels it's pointless if that system is disrupted, which is really the source of so many goals. Arsenal did get 91 in 38 league games across 2023-24 with Havertz fit. This signing is designed to complement Havertz. Arteta won't have to overly lean on him. There'll be another option, offering more tactical solutions for different challenges. That is one of the driving ideas behind Arteta's entire approach after all: tactical variety, to the point that Arsenal are very difficult to prepare for. One of the reasons he has had an almost mocked fixation on midfielders is because - a classic disciple of the Basque/Spanish school - he wants infinite possible configurations in the brain centre of the team. It's why he was so insistent on a player as tactically astute as Martin Zubimendi. The same, belatedly, applies to the attack. There are big plans for Max Dowman, who can play as a 10 or out wide, and is already performing like a first-teamer in training. Senior players are marvelling at his football brain and how quickly he executes what he is told. If Arteta can then add Eberechi Eze or another winger to Madueke and Gyokeres, he doesn't just have more bodies and crucial back-up for Saka, he has multiple angles of attack. Arsenal could come at you from anywhere. That would be quite a shift. The Gyokeres signing also signals a shift in another way. It emphasises the new power of sporting director Andrea Berta. That can be divined in how abruptly Arsenal changed plans. The club had been working on Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko for 18 months before Berta arrived. The Slovenian's agent had been at the club several times. Arsenal had spoken to his camp about how he'd fit with the team, even how he'd settle in London. Sesko initially resisted moving last summer because of how impressed he was by the 5-0 win over Chelsea in April 2024, particularly by Havertz. Sesko felt he needed more time to develop to properly make an impact. Arsenal were content with this, and thought they had an agreement with Leipzig that he would move this summer. The club still looked at other options, naturally, and Gyokeres was an obvious choice given his goals for Sporting CP. Arsenal's analytics staff had Gyokeres and Sesko at the same level right now - albeit with one caveat. While this was probably Gyokeres' ceiling, at 27, Sesko had the potential to go much higher. They could be talking about a future Isak. The staff were close to unanimous in going for Sesko, although Berta had some reservations. He wondered whether a £65m basic price was too much, and kept suggesting Gyokeres, as well as Ollie Watkins and Goncalo Ramos as alternatives. A more classic school of the sporting director, Berta is said to still value relationships and eyewitness assessment more than analytics. So, once Leipzig started dragging negotiations, Berta pushed to switch. The decision is all the more striking since it would have been much more in keeping with the modern Arsenal way to go for the future, rather than the now. Things have changed. That isn't to say Sesko is a guarantee, and even the current staff think he is rough around the edges. What's more, they are all convinced by Gyokeres' quality. They think he brings a lot that Arsenal didn't previously have, as well as a great attitude. There are still some red flags. No English club, not even promoted sides, took the gamble when he was leaving Coventry City in 2023. This summer, Arsenal didn't have that much competition. Some of the latter is because clubs had some technical reservations and feel he takes too long to get a shot off. Some is because most of his goals have come in the Portuguese league, and that at one of the big three. Such records don't generally have much translation to the Premier League, as has been witnessed with Darwin Nunez. Whereas only one player has enjoyed 20-goal seasons in both the Portuguese league and Premier League, Jimmy Hasselbaink, four have managed it from the Bundesliga. That isn't to say it should be the rule. Bruno Fernandes has proven that. While some have concerns that a club as supreme in recruitment as Brighton let Gyokeres go, that was more down to his level of development in 2021 and the fact that there wasn't yet a clear pathway for him. They did want Gyokeres to sign a new contract, and felt he had huge potential. They weren't yet completely convinced by him but 'weren't unconvinced,' one source at the Seagulls maintains. Tony Bloom was still disappointed to lose him, because his data was good. Staff also liked his attitude and saw a huge ambition. The data from Portugal is now even better, but the question remains over how much can be translated. Gyokeres, for his part, is super-driven to make this happen in England. The general view among the game's more respected recruitment staff is also that, at a total of £64m (€73.5m) - £55.3m (€63.5m) up front, with £8.7m (€10m) in add-ons - in a market where strikers are at a premium, it's worth the signing. That also raises the other big question about this. One reason that Arsenal have such a fixed line is because the Kroenkes are insistent on financial sustainability, and don't want to ever be running close to the edge on PSR. It means the club go harder in negotiations, and have to be that bit more calculated in the market. They have had to make the budget stretch. That can frustrate Arteta, and the greater cost could be proven if Liverpool's anticipated €80m expenditure on Hugo Ekitike again makes the difference... or they really do end up going all out for Isak. What might the Arsenal manager be thinking then? That might well shift things in another way.
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Viktor Gyokeres signs five-year deal with Arsenal as lengthy transfer saga comes to an end
Arsenal have completed the signing of Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting, for a final fee of €63m (£55m) with a further €10m to potentially be paid in add-ons (totalling £64m). The 27-year-old has signed a five-year contract. The purchase marks the end of an 18-month hunt for a number-nine from Arsenal, who have been insistent on signing a goalscorer for the 'here and now'. Gyokeres' arrival also marks the end of a hard period of negotiations with Sporting, who were insistent on more achievable add-ons. At one point, the deal dragged on and stalled over a potential add-on of €5m. Sporting's relationship with the player's camp ended with tension, such was Gyokeres' desire to push for a move to Arsenal. Mikel Arteta has been struck by the Swedish international's levels of self-motivation, which was one of many reasons the club ultimately went for Gyokeres over options such as Ollie Watkins, Goncalo Ramos and - above all - Leipzig 's Benjamin Sesko. The signing is an indicator of sporting director Andrea Berta's new influence in the club, as he was a big backer of Gyokeres. Arsenal had previously put a lot of work into the 22-year-old Sesko, but Berta felt Leipzig's €80m price was far too high for a forward whose primary attraction was his future ceiling. Gyokeres is already in his prime, having scored 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting over the last two seasons. He has even outscored Alexander Isak for Sweden of late, hitting 12 in his last 17 appearances. Arteta and the Arsenal analytics staff were similarly convinced, for a forward who they hope can deliver a first league title in 22 years.
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Arsenal complete £64m deal to sign striker Viktor Gyökeres from Sporting
Arsenal have finally solved their striker conundrum by completing the signing of Viktor Gyökeres from Sporting Lisbon for an initial £55m. The 27-year-old Sweden international, who fired Sporting to the title last season with 39 goals and struck a Champions League hat-trick against Manchester City, is understood to have signed a five-year deal at the Emirates. Gyökeres' transfer, which could end up costing as much as £64m with performance-related add-ons, takes Arsenal's close-season spending to the region of £200m. He becomes Mikel Arteta's sixth summer signing and follows defender Cristhian Mosquera (£13m), midfielder Martin Zubimendi (£60m), goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5m), midfielder Christian Norgaard (£10m) and forward Noni Madueke (£48.5m) in moving to the Emirates. Arsenal confirmed the news with a brief post on X which read: 'This is where you need to be. Viktor Gyökeres is a Gunner.' Gyökeres will be expected to meet up with his new colleagues in Arsenal's ongoing pre-season tour of Singapore and Hong Kong. The Gunners face Newcastle in the Singapore National Stadium on Sunday before the concluding game of their tour, against Tottenham in Hong Kong on 31 July. Gyökeres moved to Brighton from Swedish side Brommapojkarna in January 2018, but spent time on loan at St Pauli and then Swansea and Coventry, before making a permanent move to the Sky Blues in July 2021. After Coventry were beaten on penalties by Luton in the 2023 Championship playoff final at Wembley, Gyökeres completed a £20.5m switch to Sporting. He scored a remarkable 97 goals in 102 matches for the Portuguese side. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Arsenal spent the concluding months of last season without a recognised striker following long-term injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz. Even before then, Arsenal were in desperate need of a reliable scorer, and Arteta will hope his new signing can fire him to his first silverware since he won the FA Cup in 2020, and end the club's two-decade wait for a Premier League title. Arsenal's new sporting director, Andrea Berta, has wasted little time in strengthening a squad which has finished runners-up in the league for the past three seasons. Gabriel and Myles Lewis-Skelly have also put pen to paper on new contracts in the off-season, with a long-term extension for teenager Ethan Nwaneri believed to be all-but completed.
