Arsenal freeze interest in Sporting striker target

In partnership with

Just Arsenal News

·17 juin 2025

Arsenal freeze interest in Sporting striker target

Things change yet stay the same..

Some Gooners believe that Stan Kroenke, who first joined the board in 2007 and had over 60 percent of shares by 2011, meaning the American has had power over Arsenal for 14 years, is suddenly going to change his successful business model at the age of 77 for the team in his sports portfolio he arguably cares the least about.

Vidéos OneFootball

Some of my peers convinced themselves that a 300 million war chest existed this summer. Perhaps they want that to be true, or convinced themselves that had to be the reason for zero business being done in January. That was the same month Mikel Arteta was saying we were short in attack and needed help.

While nothing can justify the owners waving the white flag halfway through a season, the Gunners were happy to leak speculation that the club were simply waiting for their long-term target and did not want to sign a player just to fill a gap in the squad temporarily. They have a section of the fan base applauding second place and comparing our youngsters to Yamal, so our ownership knows how to manipulate.

Arsenal’s striker situation: A tale of two targets

Of course, not all rumours are true, but it is widely accepted that since this time last year we have been interested in Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres. In a sport where all parties talk off the record, by now we should surely know the asking price for both, whether we agree with that value, and if we plan to match it.

Andrea Berta not starting his new job until March has complicated matters, the Italian needing time to review Edu’s work. Despite Gyokeres being our Director of Football’s first choice, he respects that Sesko has been scouted for a while and is viewed by our manager as having the higher ceiling.

Originally, it was assumed we were negotiating with Sporting Lisbon as a plan B, just in case option A fell through. Yet Gyokeres has now called our bluff by making it clear the Emirates would be his chosen destination. Based on every metric, Arsenal have the money to buy both forwards, but the moment Gyokeres has essentially said ‘come and get me’, Arsenal have decided to freeze their interest.

(Getty Images)

Miscommunication and indecision haunt Arsenal again

Arsenal want the Swede to find clarification with his employers, with both parties giving contrasting information. The 27-year-old believes he has a verbal agreement that if anyone offered around 60 million he would not be priced out of a move. The Portuguese champion’s vice president has stressed that no such promises have been made and has guaranteed the Primeira Liga top scorer would not be leaving for that fee, believing someone will go as high as the 80 million release clause.

Any of you thinking that Arsenal working with false information sounds familiar would be right. It is 12 years since they were informed by Luis Suarez’s agent that Liverpool were contractually obliged to accept any sum over 40 million. That was never the case.

Most billionaires do not become rich by wasting their cash. No club is going to pay extra if they do not have to, yet you do wonder why we are trying to lowball Frederico Varandas when he has made it abundantly clear what he expects.

Meanwhile, how long do you ask Sesko to wait before he gets offended? Until the 22-year-old has officially signed a contract, anyone can hijack any deal on the table. That has happened before. Gonzalo Higuain once withdrew from moving to North London after initially accepting because our recruitment team took so long haggling over every last pound that he questioned how committed we were to the deal.

Manchester City spent 218 million in January and, since the end of the campaign, 130 million. That is because they have standards they do not tolerate falling below. When they do, Pep Guardiola is asked what he needs to improve things, and it happens.

Arsenal in that time have spent nothing and are still being indecisive in talks that have been ongoing for a year. Was not the whole point of doing zero business in the winter that we did not want to undermine our plans for now? Did we not have deals ready and lined up? Yet here we are in June freezing our interest.

Which one sounds serious about being champions? Which one is ambitious?

Supporters accepted that the first window opened earlier for those involved in the Club World Cup, but now that it is open properly, I am not sure they will tolerate either saga going on much longer.

Let me know what you think of the situation in the comments below.

Dan Smith

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

ADMIN COMMENT

So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….

You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.

CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…