Arsenal are finally closing in on the signing of a striker, with Viktor Gyokeres set to join the North London club from Sporting CP for £63 million.
The Gunners have been in the market for a new centre-forward for over a year now, failing in pursuits for the likes of Benjamin Sesko and Ollie Watkins.
They’ve finally got their man after a protracted saga, as Gyokeres is set to travel to London to complete his medical on Saturday.
The Swede will arrive in N5 with an impressive goalscoring pedigree, although some are still sceptical about his ability to translate his form to the Premier League.
Stan Collymore thinks Arsenal should have moved for Evan Ferguson
There were many options available to Arsenal on the market before they opted for Gyokeres.
Watkins represented the Premier League-proven candidate available for a minimal fee, while Sesko and Hugo Ekitike were the exciting emerging prospects who were considered.
However, former England star and now pundit Stan Collymore believes Brighton’s Evan Ferguson should have been considered by top clubs, including Arsenal.
“I think it’s quite remarkable that Evan Ferguson, who is still only 20 years of age, did not attract more attention, especially from Premier League clubs,” he wrote for CaughtOffside.
“I mean, he can still technically be seen as a development player. I think it just goes to show how shallow some of these big clubs are, as they’d rather buy a proven scorer for £70-80m rather than make their own talent.
“With Ferguson, he’s got probably a career of 15 years ahead of him, he’s an international already, he’s scored goals in the top league in the Premier League already. All he needs is a Liverpool, Man United, Man City, Chelsea or Arsenal to come in and say we’ll take you.
“They can pay Brighton £30-40m, develop him, allow him to play for the U21s, U23s, keep him in and around the matchday squad, and teach him the way that we want him to play as a centre forward.
“And I just find it remarkable that these clubs scoff at the thought of developing a player that has undoubted talent and ability, that possibly could play up front for them for the next five, six, seven, eight years.”
Stan Collymore is wrong about Evan Ferguson and Arsenal
Ferguson has been described as ‘the next Harry Kane’ in the past, and is undoubtedly a talented young striker.
That said, the Irishman has failed to kick on since displaying immense talent at a young age, with his technical attributes not developing with his physical qualities.
Struggling on loan at West Ham last season, spending significant money on the Brighton man would be a huge risk for a club looking to win the Premier League title.
The Gunners are not at the stage of their project where they can afford to invest in a player who needs to develop; rather, they require a win-now addition up front.
While Ferguson has been loosely linked with Arsenal, there have been few concrete reports on this front, likely for the aforementioned reasons.
| Stat | Gyokeres | Ferguson (for Brighton) | Ferguson (for West Ham) |
| Appearances | 33 | 13 | 8 |
| Goals | 39 | 1 | 0 |
| Assists | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Shots per 90 | 4.08 | 2.56 | 2.88 |
| Expected Goals per 90 | 0.99 | 0.19 | 0.35 |
| Key Passes per 90 | 1.96 | 1.11 | 1.18 |
| Expected Assists per 90 | 0.22 | 0.15 | 0.18 |
As shown by the data above, Gyokeres is currently producing in the final third at a much more impressive rate than his Irish counterpart.
Arsenal are right to have made the decision they’ve made and to have ignored Collymore’s suggestion.
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