Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres, and Cristhian Mosquera (Photo by Mike Hewitt, Gualter Fatia, Rafa Babot/Getty Images)
Agreement in principle for Viktor Gyokeres after excellent work by Andrea Berta
We’re still waiting on a full agreement between Arsenal and Sporting over Viktor Gyokeres.
A deal in principle has been in place since the weekend after a breakthrough in talks on Sunday. The framework of the deal is done, but it seems to be that the final sticking point is around how exactly the add-ons will be met.
Arsenal are confident that a deal will be agreed, but I wouldn’t want to put a timeframe on when that will be.
It could happen at any point, with Arsenal obviously keen to get Gyokeres through the door as quickly as possible to help with his acclimatisation.
Mikel Arteta and his squad head out to Asia on Saturday for the start of their pre-season tour and Andrea Berta and the club have been pushing to get the majority of the club’s transfer targets in by then.
Whether the last few details of the Gyokeres deal can be ironed out by then we’ll have to wait and see, but Arsenal would certainly like that, as you would think the player would.
If Arsenal get this one over the line I think Berta will get a lot of credit for the way he has handled the negotiations.
It hasn’t been easy because Sporting have understandably looked to play hardball, which is absolutely their right given how crucial a player Gyokeres has been for them over the past two years.
But Berta has stayed patient and the deal he has struck is a good one. You can’t really argue with an initial fee of around £55 million for a striker with Gyokeres’ recent record.
Viktor Gyokeres celebrating a goal for Sporting Lisbon last season (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
Yes, there are question marks over the Portuguese league and whether he will be able to replicate annoying close to his level of goalscoring exploits in the Premier League, but even so, it’s a good price for such a free-scoring…
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