Arsenal ‘increasingly closer’ to signing £86m striker as Romano reveals Gunners scouting mission

Jason Soutar 02 Mar 2024 1:47 PM

Arsenal target Viktor Gyokeres celebrates his goal.

Arsenal are reportedly ‘increasingly following’ Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres ‘with greater interest’ ahead of the summer transfer window.

Gyokeres has been outstanding for Sporting this season, scoring 31 goals and providing 11 assists in 34 appearances across all competitions.

The Portuguese giants only paid €21million to sign the Swedish international from Coventry City last summer and will likely be able to sell him for five times that amount at the end of the season.

Transfermarkt notes that he has a €100m (£85.7million) release clause in his contract, which would obviously have to be paid in one go.

This could hold interested clubs back from signing the 25-year-old, especially if Sporting are difficult to negotiate a deal with.

Arsenal’s interest in Gyokeres has been hotly discussed in recent weeks, with Fabrizio Romano claiming they are very interested and had scouts in attendance to watch him in February.

Chelsea have also been linked with the Swede but Romano insists the Gunners are more interested than their London rivals.

And a recent report from Portuguese newspaper A Bola (via Sport Witness) says Mikel Arteta’s side are following Gyokeres ‘with greater attention’ ahead of the summer transfer window.

Having scouted the player in recent months, Arsenal ‘highlighted him very well’ and are now likely to try and sign him in the summer.

It will not be easy, though, with Gyokeres one of the ‘most sought-after’ players in Europe.

Paris Saint-Germain are also believed to be keen, with Luis Enrique looking to replace Real Madrid-bound Kylian Mbappe.

Arsenal are now ‘increasingly following him with greater interest’ given his incredible form for Sporting this season, and a move to a European giant is now ‘an increasingly shorter distance away’.

Arteta is expected to sign a new striker at the end of the season with Gabriel Jesus struggling to find the back of the net on a consistent basis.

A lot has been said about Arsenal’s lack of an out-and-out goalscoring No. 9, with Eddie Nketiah another player failing to establish himself as that guy under Arteta.

The Gunners are being linked with several strikers, including Brentford’s Ivan Toney.

It looks like Gyokeres has overtaken Toney on Arteta’s wish list, with the Swede more likely to join than the England international.

The aforementioned Romano has also claimed that there is plenty of interest in the Sporting star, although ‘nothing is happening now’.

He wrote in his CaughtOffside column: ‘Although there are many clubs that are attentive to Viktor Gyokeres at the moment, none have made a move as yet, nothing is happening now. It’s one for the summer.

‘His conditions are that he has a €100m release clause then we will see what happens in the summer – but we know how difficult is to negotiate with Portuguese clubs.

‘Many clubs have also sent their scouts to watch him, Arsenal for sure multiple times – but also others are closely monitoring the situation.’

Arsenal Viktor Gyokeres