Arsenal are looking to close a deal to sign Viktor Gyokeres in the coming days.
Viktor Gyokeres has been strongly linked to Arsenal for some time now, and it would appear Gyokeres to Arsenal is advancing at this point.
However, as with any high-profile transfer at the Emirates, this one isn’t proving to be as simple as many would want it to be.
Arsenal’s transfers always seem to have late hiccups, whether it’s Manchester City bidding for Declan Rice late in the day or Chelsea hijacking the Mykhaylo Mudryk deal.
Now, it would appear there’s another hurdle to clear as the Gunners try to sign Viktor Gyokeres.
Arsenal face final Viktor Gyokeres complication
Speaking on the Sky Sports Back Pages Podcast, David Ornstein has provided an update on Gyokeres’ move to Arsenal, and he says that there’s one final complication that the Gunners are now facing.
Indeed, according to Ornstein, Sporting are playing hardball over the structure of the add-ons of this deal, claiming that things are complicated on this front.
“They’ve got to get it completed though. And, you know, they’re working to complete it.
And there’s an agreement in principle, which is for a fee of 63.5 million Euros plus 10 million Euros in add-ons.
“But they still need to sort of put the finishing touches to the nature of those add-ons. And there are reports coming from Portugal tonight that the sporting president, Federico Varandas, wants sort of near-fixed, guaranteed 10 million add-ons.
“Maybe Arsenal’s thoughts on how you get to those add-ons are a little bit different. And I guess these are natural parts of the closing stages of negotiations. And it can get a little bit tense and complicated, especially because, you know, this one’s been complicated throughout,”
“So Arsenal are in a very, very advanced position on this, and they’re trying to close it out. It’s not done just yet, but they’ll be hopeful that they can do so and get him on their preseason tour.
“And that would be a massive piece of business for them, of course, this long-awaited search for a number nine and his goal scoring record, especially in the last two years, absolutely spectacular. And his desire to join Arsenal and take up what’s been prepared, a five-year contract, and the force with which he’s pushed it and not return to training with Sporting Lisbon to almost help facilitate this move to Arsenal. So let’s see if they can get it absolutely concluded.”
When does Arsenal’s pre-season tour start?
Arsenal want to get Gyokeres signed up before their pre-season tour, and that still gives the Gunners a fair bit of time to get this deal wrapped up.
Indeed, Arsenal don’t fly out for their pre-season tour until Sunday the 20th of June and they don’t have their first pre-season game until Wednesday the 23rd, so there’s still more than a week to go in terms of pushing to get this deal done.
There were bound to be late twists and turns in such a high-profile transfer for such a noteworthy player, but it doesn’t sound as though this deal is on the verge of collapse, despite what reports in Portugal may be saying.
Arsenal look to be edging closer to landing Gyokeres, and a deal could still be done this week.
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