Arsenal are in “very advanced” negotiations with Viktor Gyokeres’ representatives as they look to beat Manchester United in the race to sign the striker.
The Gunners desperately need to sign a new striker as their failures in the transfer market in recent windows held them back during the 2024/25 campaign.
Injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus left Mikel Arteta without a recognised striker and Arsenal’s hierarchy are keen to avoid a repeat of this situation next season.
Arsenal have been linked with several potential targets, but Gyokeres and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko appear to be their preferred options.
Gyokeres has cemented himself as Europe’s most prolific striker at Sporting Lisbon, scoring 54 goals in all competitions during the 2024/25 campaign to become a candidate to be this year’s leading scorer across the top ten divisions.
READ: Transfer rumour power ranking: Man Utd target cheap midfielder, Sporting firm on Gyokeres
Sesko is another long-term Arsenal target as he’s one of the standout young strikers in Europe after his 21-goal campaign for RB Leipzig.
Recent reports have indicated that the Gunners are leaning towards signing Sesko, but one issue is said to be ‘jeopardising’ a potential switch to the Emirates.
It’s unclear whether this has altered Arsenal’s stance on their preferred striker signing, but a report from Portuguese journalist Nuno Farinha on Wednesday claimed they are ‘very advanced’ in talks to sign Gyokeres and a new ‘meeting’ has taken place as the two sides look to thrash out a deal.
Man Utd are also pursuing Gyokeres, with a report claiming they ‘would like’ him over a pricey alternative, but Farinha claims the Sporting Lisbon star has always “desired” a move to Arsenal.
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Farinha revealed: “The talks with Arsenal are not new but they have now become more formal since the Gyökeres situation became the situation it was.
“The meeting is currently taking place. Gyökeres’ agent is currently meeting with the owners of Arsenal to try to speed up this process. I don’t know exactly what the amounts are or what amounts are on the table.
“Arsenal is the club that Gyökeres has wanted from the very beginning. Gyökeres wants to play for Arsenal, that’s his desire. He was very open about it to his agent.
“No formal proposal has arrived at Sporting. This time it seems that there will be, because things with Arsenal are already very advanced and it seems to me that there is a great desire to speed up this process. That is why a meeting is taking place at this moment.
“I believe it is in London, which is why I mentioned the issue of British punctuality. Basically, what is important from now on is to understand how this meeting went and how Arsenal will prepare for what we already know is Sporting’s position. €60m plus €10m is out of the question.”
