Arsenal ‘very attentive’ to Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres
Arsenal are very attentive to the performances of Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres, according to Portuguese publication O Jogo (page 8).
The Sweden international joined Sporting from Championship side Coventry City last summer and he has been brilliant for them with 17 goals and eight assists from just 20 appearances.
His form has caught the eye of the Gunners and O Jogo claim that the Gunners had scouts in attendance to watch Gyokeres in the Lisbon derby against Porto on Monday night.
The 25-year-old scored and assisted in the 2-0 win over Porto at home and Mikel Arteta’s side will continue to ‘very closely’ monitor him for the rest of the season.
A summer transfer could be on the cards for the striker but it is reported that Sporting will be reluctant to compensate on his €100 million release clause after his huge success.
Arsenal likely to invest on marquee striker next summer
The Gunners are not planning to spend big on a centre-forward in January amid Financial Fair Play issues.
The club are more likely to pursue a central midfielder and it has been reported that they are closely following Everton star Amadou Onana ahead of a possible approach.
Gyokeres seems to be highly-rated by the Gunners amid his goal contributions at Sporting, but the big question is whether he can replicate the same in the Premier League.
Darwin Nunez had similar success with Benfica, scoring 34 goals in his final season, but he has struggled at Liverpool with only 22 goals from 66 appearances in all competitions.
In our view, we would personally prefer a proven striker in Europe’s top-five leagues. Napoli’s Victor Osimhen would be a good transfer target for the Gunners next summer.
The Nigerian star has netted 39 goals since the start of last season for Napoli. He is set to sign a new contract at the Serie A outfit but with a release clause of around €130m.
The Gunners should spend slightly more on purchasing Osimhen instead of Gyokeres.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
