Swedish ace Victor Gyokeres has revealed that he is open to leaving Sporting CP in the next summer transfer window amid strong Arsenal links.
The 26-year-old is in the best form of his life, with 15 goal contributions for club and country this season.
But he is not stopping here. transfer guru Fabrizio Romano highlighted how lethal the former Brighton ace has been by scoring or assisting in each of his past seven games. He has scored three goals and provided two assists against Azerbaijan and Estonia in the Nations League.
🤖🇸🇪 Viktor Gyokeres has already 15 goal contributions for club and country this season!
10 goals, 5 assists for Sporting striker.
vs Porto 👟👟
vs Rio Ave ⚽️👟
vs Nacional ⚽️⚽️
vs Farense ⚽️⚽️⚽️
vs Porto ⚽️
vs Azerbaijan ⚽️👟👟
vs Estonia ⚽️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/AFvTteIgzH— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 8, 2024
Arsenal fans will agree that their team needed a proper No. 9 and were linked with several top stars like Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko. The most coming name being linked was sporting star Gyokeres.
The Gunners were impressed by the player’s success in the Portuguese League last campaign and hence explored a move. But the deal never happened, and now the striker’s electrifying progress will fill Mikel Arteta’s side with regret.
Gyokeres drops Arsenal hint?
However, he has now hinted at a possible departure in 2025, opening the doors to a potential transfer to the Emirates. While talking to Sport Bladet, the forward said: “They (Sporting) wanted most of the starting players to stay and held us tight. I enjoy Sporting very much, so for me it was no problem to stay. Of course. You want to play at the highest level. It (£85m release clause) was probably a bit too much because nothing came of it. Of course it’s a lot of money. But we’ll see what happens next window.”
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“Nothing happened and it feels like I had a pretty good season. So yes, that’s probably why there was simply no move. But that’s what Sporting thinks I’m worth, and then you have to respect that.”
The mighty price tag
The club has slapped a huge asking price on the player (£85 million) as his contract expires in 2028. Personal terms won’t be an issue but it will be difficult to match that fee until and unless Sporting are ready to negotiate for anything less.
Looking at the attacker’s current form, they might hesitate to do so. Arsenal might have taken a step back, keeping in mind the financial aspect of the deal.
Gyokeres is a talented star who has built a fortress in the Liga Portugal. Once a Brighton flop, his risky move to Coventry City paid dividends as he scored 38 goals in two seasons in the Championship. Sporting took notice of his performances and signed him in 2022/23. He scored 43 goals for them in all competitions last season and is running the show in just a few games this year.
But whether he would be able to replicate this kind of form in the Premier League remains to be seen. It would be a big step for him to play against some of the best teams in the world.
We can’t purely judge the player based on goalscoring numbers since these wouldn’t be as ridiculous if he were playing in the Premier League.
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We hope Gyokeres proves us wrong one day, but for now Arsenal will keep monitoring the Swedish star until the next summer window. It remains to be seen whether he is the perfect fit in Arteta’s plans.
