Mikel Arteta left with food for thought after Arsenal's £85m transfer blow
Arsenal opted not to splash out £85million to sign Sporting star Viktor Gyokeres in the summer transfer window and the Swedish striker continues to score goals at a ridiculous rate
by Felix Keith · The MirrorArsenal may be tempted to push for Viktor Gyokeres in the upcoming transfer windows as the Sporting Lisbon striker continues to plunder goals.
Gyokeres was one of the names on Arsenal ’s shortlist as they searched for a forward to sign in the summer transfer window. The Sweden international has been in outrageous form since he swapped Coventry for Sporting last summer, contributing 54 goals and 15 assists in 58 matches across all competitions.
He has simply picked up where he left off last season, banging in 11 goals in eight games in 2024/25 for the Portuguese side so far. This superb record won’t have gone unnoticed in north London, where Gunners sporting director and his scouts will have one eye on his progress.
Gyokeres was one of the best strikers on the market in the summer, alongside Victor Osimhen, Alexander Isak and Ivan Toney. But ultimately Arsenal decided they could not afford to splash out the money required to make a deal happen, with Gyokeres and Isak staying put while Osimhen went to Galatasaray on loan and Toney was flogged to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia.
Sporting stuck steadfast to their stance that Gyokeres - who they signed for a bargain but still club-record €20m (£16m) plus €4m (£3.3m) in add-ons in 2023 - would not leave unless his £85million release clause was paid in full. They were in a strong negotiating position, given Gyokeres’ absurd form and the fact he’s under contract until June 2028.
As Gyokeres himself explained to Swedish newspaper Sport Bladet earlier this month: "They (Sporting) wanted most of the starting players to stay and held us tight. That’s how it turned out, but I enjoy Sporting very much, so for me it was no problem to stay.”
As he showed while at Coventry, Gyokeres has a very well-rounded game, with his physicality, height and pace providing a multi-faceted threat. He can play as a target man, look for the ball in behind the defence or feed off more intricate build-up with clever movement.
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That could prove more and more appealing for Arsenal as the season wears on. Asked about his options up front, Arteta insisted recently: “We have some great strikers. Gabi (Gabriel) Jesus is there, Kai [Havertz] has played there a lot of minutes, Leo ( Leandro Trossard ) has played there and we believe we have all the necessities as well. We fully trust our players. We want to get better for sure and we will try but we are going to try with the players that are already with us.”
But the truth is that neither Jesus or Havertz offer the same package as Gyokeres, who arguably combines the best two attributes of the Arsenal duo. Arsenal showed in their 2-2 draw at Manchester City that they can get by without goals from forwards, as Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes found the back of the net, but their relatively limited options up front after selling Eddie Nketiah could still come back to bite them.
The sale of Nketiah to Crystal Palace generated around £30m – and that money could be reinvested in the January transfer window on Gyokeres. Arsenal have shown they are willing to pay huge transfer fees for the right player – think £105m for Declan Rice or £65m for Havertz – so, financial fair play rules withstanding, it is not out of the question that they could return for Gyokeres.
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