Gyokeres, a 27-year-old Swedish striker, has agreed personal terms with Arsenal and is ready to sign a five-year deal with the club. However, the deal has not been accepted yet, and talks between the two clubs are ongoing. Gyokeres had believed he had a "gentleman's agreement" with the Sporting board that would allow him to leave the club this summer for a fee of €70m, much lower than his €100m release clause.
Sporting president Frederico Varandas refuted the claim, stating that there was no agreement made. Varandas said that the agent wanted to anchor the departure to a value, but he did not guarantee any specific fee. Meanwhile, Arsenal were weighing up their options, considering a deal for Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig, but that deal has proven to be even trickier.
Leipzig were demanding €100m for the young Slovenian, and there doesn't seem to be much room for negotiation. Back in Portugal, Gyokeres was furious, insisting he will never play for Sporting again as he angled for a move away. He took to social media to vent his frustrations, removing any sign of Sporting from his Instagram bio.
Gyokeres also sent a veiled message to whomever would listen, saying that there is a lot of talk at the moment, most of it false. He will speak when the time is right. The club finally started to show signs of letting up, giving the Sweden international permission to come to pre-season training a week later than his teammates as Arsenal considered their next move.
Gyokeres’ bridges at Sporting appear to be burned. He’s so desperate to leave the club he’s now willing to forgo €2 million from his salary at the club to help facilitate a deal with Arsenal. It’s a move that will endear him to the Arsenal fans almost immediately, he’s so keen to join the club and help end their frustrating five-year trophy drought.
It’s no secret that Arsenal have been in desperate need for a striker for the past few seasons. Gyokeres seems like the best option having scored a truly remarkable 97 goals in 102 games across all competitions for Sporting. Let’s see if there are any more transfer twists along the way.
