Arsenal's gamble on £70m Viktor Gyokeres as Mikel Arteta ends search for 'killer' striker | OneFootball

Sporting hitman is one of the most sought-after goalscorers in Europe - but his signing does not come without risk

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After scoring 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting, it may seem harsh to label Arsenal’s pursuit of Viktor Gyokeres as a gamble.

The Swede also impressed in the Champions League and his hat-trick against Manchester City helped him finish with a tally of six goals in eight games.

Arsenal certainly think so. The club are in advanced negotiations with Sporting over a deal that could be worth up to £70million, while the player is reported to have agreed personal terms on a five-year contract.

Such a deal represents a risk in itself. There is limited resale value on a player who is 27 and tied to a five-year contract.

Arsenal have, more recently, targeted younger players - which is in keeping with the transfer market as a whole.

“No one is spending money on players above the age of 25,” Oliver Dehnhardt, head of football strategy at the scouting platform Eyeball, told Standard Sport earlier this summer. “It is only the top Premier League clubs that are buying players at this price point.”

Arsenal can argue that this is precisely the point - Gyokeres is a signing to win now. This is a player in his prime and one who, given he is 6ft 2in, looks physically cut out for the Premier League.

History, however, offers a word of caution. The path from Portugal to the Premier League has proved difficult for many, and it remains to be seen if Gyokeres’ remarkable form can continue outside of Portugal.

Familiar surroundings: Gyokeres could be reunited with some former opponents

AFP via Getty Images

Darwin Nunez scored 26 league goals for Benfica in the 2021-22 season before joining Liverpool that summer as part of a deal worth an initial £64m. After three inconsistent years on Merseyside, and 95 Premier League games, he has found the net 25 times.

Gyokeres can, at least, point to the fact he has some experience of English football after scoring 21 goals in the Championship during his final season at Coventry during the 2022-23 campaign.

It is a step below the Premier League, but analyst giants Opta actually rate the Championship as a tougher league than the Portuguese top flight.

Indeed, in analysis released last month, they said 11 of the Portuguese top-flight’s 18 teams were roughly equivalent in standard to League One level. Such an assessment raises questions about the standard of opposition Gyokeres has faced over the past two years.

The counterargument to this is that Gyokeres can only beat what is in front of him - and he has most certainly done that.

Last season, he averaged more than one goal per game, finding the net 54 times in 52 appearances.

Those are remarkable numbers and if the Swede can produce even half of that for Arsenal, then Mikel Arteta’s side will have the 25-goal-a-season striker they crave.

Gyokeres would also offer Arteta a different option to Kai Havertz to lead the line. Havertz excels with his link-play and ability to bring others into the game.

Despite his stocky frame, Gyokeres is more of a dribbler, no doubt in part because he began his youth career as a winger.

Only two players in Portugal’s top flight attempted more dribbles than Gyokeres last season and that helped the Swede finish second for chances created from open play.

And then, there is Gyokeres’ attitude and hunger to score. He is, as Ian Wright would say, “a killer”. Arsenal lack a poacher in the box, with a natural nose for goals, and Gyokeres offers that.

The big question is whether he can be that in the Premier League, and signing him is not without risk.

But for Arsenal, in their search for silverware, there is an argument that the time has come to be bold. Signing Gyokeres would certainly be that.