SAD NEWS: Arsenal will not be able to sign Viktor Gyökeres due to disagreements over transfer fees and salary demands. The deal has collapsed, and both Liverpool and Manchester City are now prepared to hijack the move
Reports from Portugal suggest Viktor Gyokeres’ long-floated move from Sporting CP to Arsenal could be in danger of completely collapsing.
WHAT HAPPENED?
A report by Portuguese newspaper Record, suggests the summer’s longest-running transfer saga shows no sign of resolution.
While Arsenal, Sporting and Gyokeres’ representatives have agreed on an initial fee of €70m (£61m/$82m) plus €10m in add-ons (£8.7m/$11.6m) for the player’s services, the terms surrounding the additional fees have yet to be ironed out.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Sporting want those terms to be easily achievable, a request which Arsenal has reportedly resisted. A Bola reports that just €3m of those add-ons are considered “easily achievable” by the selling club.
That disconnect is apparently enough to ensure the deal is “at risk of collapse,” Record reports that Gyokeres and his agent, Hasan Cetinkaya, may offer a public intervention to keep the deal alive.
DID YOU KNOW?
Gyokeres was considered to be one of Europe’s hottest properties heading into the summer transfer window; however, it quickly became apparent that Arsenal and Manchester United were the only credible suitors for his signature.
As the Gunners pulled ahead in the chase, questions over the Swede’s ability to cut it in the Premier League have increased. Despite that, he remains sure of his abilities, saying in a recent interview that he belonged at the top table with the likes of Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland.
WHAT NEXT FOR GYOKERES?
The 27-year-old has pushed for this move. On Sunday, he declined to return to Sporting’s pre-season training, signalling his desire for the transfer to go ahead.
With that in mind, a public statement urging negotiations between his current and prospective employers could well be coming.
