Arsenal have been handed two Viktor Gyokeres transfer updates with a summer switch from Sporting CP close to being finalised. The Swede and Benjamin Sesko were Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta’s striker options with the latter seemingly their favoured option until last weekend.
Discussions with RB Leipzig for Sesko had not progressed for some time due to their asking price, and that’s finally resulted in the focus switching on to Gyokeres. As Berta had worked on both deals for the last month or so, no real effort was needed to get negotiations at the advanced stage.
Gyokeres’ clear desire to join Arsenal certainly helped matters with personal terms not a problem. Agreeing a final fee with Sporting, though, could be a little more difficult and though the two club’s are close in terms of valuation, the payment structure is likely to be very important.
According to The Standard, the Gunners’ current proposal of €65million (£56m) plus €15m (£13m) in add-ons will not be enough as the Portuguese side want more of the fee upfront.
A compromise could be on the way very soon as their report added that Friday, July 11 is when he is due to report back for pre-season training with all parties wanting a deal sealed by then. Given he does not want to play for the Portuguese champions again, it is likely his return is delayed if an agreement has not yet been reached.
Despite a quick resolution being the hope, Sporting are not backing down on their asking price with it claimed in Portugal they want £69million (€80m) as the initial fee and further add-ons on top of that.
The Gunners have navigated some clever deals in recent years with the Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi fees paid through instalments. It seems unlikely that will be the case here, with Sporting adamant at how much they want for their prized asset.
With full focus on wrapping up the Gyokeres deal, a move for Cristhian Mosquera has seemingly taken a backseat. Arsenal’s opening offer for the centre-back was turned down by Valencia with a second bid now believed to be on the way.
Alongside that, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Zubimendi saw their switches from Chelsea and Real Sociedad, respectively, confirmed last week. Christian Norgaard is also waiting to officially become an Arsenal player after a full agreement with Brentford was reached nearly two weeks ago.
Eberechi Eze, Rodrygo and Noni Madueke are other attackers being looked at by Arsenal with the latter having agreed personal terms.
