Arsenal ‘edging closer’ to agreement for top striker with ‘all parties aligned’ in Man Utd blow
Arsenal are on course to beat Premier League rivals Man Utd in the race to sign Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres, according to reports.
The Gunners are on the lookout for a new centre-forward ahead of the summer transfer market after suffering for not having a goalscorer in the second half of the season.
Liverpool were confirmed as Premier League champions nine days ago with four games to spare after they beat Tottenham 5-1.
Arsenal have now turned their full attention to the Champions League with Mikel Arteta’s side facing Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening in the second leg of their semi-final after losing the home fixture 1-0.
As well as concentrating on the Champions League, they have turned focus on to finding new players to improve Arteta’s starting XI ahead of next season.
Arsenal have been playing midfielder Mikel Merino as a makeshift striker in recent months after both Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz picked up season-ending injuries in the early part of the year.
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There had already been calls for Arsenal to bring in a new centre-forward to take them to the next level but those serious injuries really highlighted it.
Sporting CP striker Gyokeres has been among the players linked to taking that centre-forward spot at the Emirates Stadium but a report emerged last week claiming that Man Utd are ‘confident’ that the Sweden international to Old Trafford is a ‘done deal’.
But now a report from Football Transfers claims that Arsenal ‘have made significant progress in their pursuit’ of Sporting CP striker Gyokeres with ‘fresh talks’ scheduled for after the Portuguese cup final later this month.
Since Andrea Berta has joined Arsenal as their new sporting director, Gyokeres has emerged as their top target, and the Gunners ‘are now edging closer to finalising an agreement to sign the 26-year-old’.
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The report adds that ‘sources close to the situation say that all parties are already aligned on the proposed contract package’ but that Arsenal are ‘yet to agree a deal with Sporting’.
Football Transfers understands that the Portuguese side ‘are expected to demand a significant chunk of the transfer fee up front, potentially even the full amount’.
That is the only thing that ‘may complicate Arsenal’s pursuit’ while Gyokeres – who has scored 52 goals in 49 matches in all competitions this season – is ‘yet to be directly involved in talks with Arsenal, with the Gunners instead negotiating with his representatives up to this point.’
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