It seems that every modern-day Arsenal manager has regrets when it comes to the transfer of strikers.
Unai Emery was fortunate, as the Spaniard inherited Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Arsene Wenger to dominate the number nine role.
From the outside, some would believe that Wenger got things right, having worked with the likes of Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie, but it’s fair to say that the Frenchman had some painful misses.
Wenger wanted to sign Cristiano Ronaldo before the forward’s move to Manchester United, and in another transfer miss, the Arsenal legend failed to sign Luis Suarez in a remarkable attempt from Liverpool.
Perry Groves forms Viktor Gyokeres and Luis Suarez comparison
Of course, Wenger had many transfer triumphs over his 22 years at Arsenal, but the former manager will never shake the embarrassment of the Gunners’ bid to sign Suarez.
On the back of a Premier League season made up of 44 goal contributions, Arsenal were led to believe that they could sign Suarez using a £40m release clause, so they put the information to the test by bidding £40,000,001.
The attempt is still spoken about today, and was actually mentioned by Arsenal icon Perry Groves in relation to Mikel Arteta’s current transfer target.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Groves discussed Arsenal’s bid to sign Viktor Gyokeres, where he urged the Gunners to take inspiration from Wenger’s mishap with Suarez.
“It’s the risk to rewards. If I were Arsenal, I’d be going, transfer window is open, let’s get this done, prove to the player how much you want him. If it’s £70m, pay the £70m; we’ve been in the situation before. It gives the right impression that you want that player badly.”
Groves then mentioned Suarez, prompting sporting director Andrea Berta to learn from the club’s past mistakes and make Gyokeres feel more wanted than the Liverpool icon did.
“We had it with Suarez, Arsene Wenger got stick but it wasn’t him that actually made that bid, he said that’s disrespectful to the player because you’re not showing the player how much you want him.
“If his release clause is £40m, bid £50m. It shows the player how much you want him to come to your club.”
Berta is set to meet with Gyokeres in the coming days to discuss a possible transfer, understanding that Sporting CP want close to €80m for their talisman.
Groves snubs concern about Gyokeres’ suitability to the Premier League
Groves is eager to see Gyokeres at Arsenal, which is an opinion shared by many fans after the striker’s 39-goal season in the Portuguese top flight.
That being said, there are also reservations about Arsenal signing Gyokeres, the most prominent being the jump from the Portuguese league to the Premier League.
Before playing for Sporting CP, the Swede was in the Championship with Coventry City, causing alarm bells to sound over his lack of experience in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
Groves responded to such concerns on talkSPORT, sharing his opinion that if he can do it in the Championship, he’ll be just fine in the Premier League.
“I’d be saying, pay the money, pay the extra £10m to get him over the line because, I think him proving scoring goals at Coventry City, the Championship is more physical than the Premier League is, so it’s the risk to reward and that’s a lesser risk than any other player.”
The Arsenal icon has shared his verdict on the transfer saga, handing the reins to Berta to further explore the conditions to sign Gyokeres.
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