Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres is still an option for Arsenal ahead of the 2024/25 campaign but a deal is not close despite recent reports coming out of Portugal.
According to Leonino, the striker is set to leave the Portuguese champions to join Arsenal this summer, but Fabrizio Romano has stated that this is not the case.
Mikel Arteta is in the market for a new number nine and the North London club are yet to decide which of their targets they want to fully pursue.
Gyokeres is an option with the Premier League club having made contact during April and May.
The Swedish star is coming off the back of a sensational season in Portugal where his 43 goals and 15 assists in all competions played a big part in Sporting winning the league title.
The 26-year-old has caught the eye of many top clubs but has a contract in Portugal until 2028, however, that deal contains a €100m release clause.
“In the last 24, 48 hours, we had some rumours about the deal being closed, being very advanced. I also saw something from Portugal, like almost completed and I am told this is not true,” Fabrizio Romano has said about Arsenal’s links to Gyokeres when answering questions on CaughtOffside’s The Daily Briefing.
“At the moment, Arsenal are not at that advanced stages of their negotiation for Gyokeres. They made contact on the player side already months ago, it was between April and May. They are also informed about the conditions of the €100million release clause, but also the cost of the deal in terms of salary and all the rest.
“They have still not decided what they really want to do in that position or who is the priority target. They want to take their time to assess the options, so at the moment with Gyokeres, it is not something imminent or close, but it’s an option.
“I don’t think Arsenal will go for crazy money [for Gyokeres] so it has to be maybe a different structure of the deal or Arsenal could look at different opportunities.”
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