Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres, and Ethan Nwaneri (Photo by George Wood, Gualter Fatia, Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Arsenal now hope to have Viktor Gyokeres involved as soon as possible
We are finally reaching the end of the Viktor Gyokeres saga.
Arsenal and Sporting are now in agreement over the exact terms of the deal, with Arsenal set to pay €63.5 million and a further €10m in add-ons for the Sweden striker.
That agreement had been in place for a while between the two clubs, with the sticking point centred round how exactly those add-ons would be reached.
A compromise was finally agreed on Tuesday, with Gyokeres expected to soon undergo a medical before completing his move to Arsenal.
There have been suggestions that medical will take place in Singapore where Arsenal are currently based for their pre-season tour of Asia.
I’m unable to confirm whether that is correct at this stage, but I know the club have been putting plans in place to ensure Gyokeres could join up with the squad as quickly as possible if an agreement was reached with Sporting.
They were always hopeful he would be able to play some part in the tour and have been preparing for this exact eventuality, so I’m fully expecting him to link up with the squad before they fly home.
He obviously won’t feature against Milan in Arsenal’s first game and the Newcastle match on Sunday could be a push. But I’ve been told Arsenal have always hoped he could be available for the Hong Kong part of the tour and that does feel realistic at this stage.
It will obviously be a huge boost for the club to get this deal over the line.
It’s taken longer than expected, there’s no doubt about that. Mikel Arteta would certainly have liked to have Gyokeres in for the start of pre-season.
But it’s obviously been a complicated deal to get done and negotiations have not been easy.
So providing there are no dramatic late hiccups, getting this signing over the line will be a big boost to the club at what is still a…
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