Arsenal are already feeling the impact of Viktor Gyökeres before the striker has even kicked a ball for the club, with shirts sales bearing his name hitting record territory.
After weeks of negotiating and Gyökeres’s best efforts to force his way out of Sporting CP—which led to him being fined for skipping training without permission—the Sweden international finally became an Arsenal player in a £63.5 million ($84.9 million) deal last weekend.
The Gunners quickly confirmed he has been assigned Thierry Henry’s famous old No. 14 shirt, while the official club store and online shop offered fans free Gyökeres printing on any jersey bought there.
The Athletic notes, even without an exact figure from retailers at this moment in time, fan demand for his name on Arsenal shirts has outstripped that of “any signing in recent history”.
Shirt printing at the Arsenal store usually costs £16 ($21.40), so being able to add the 27-year-old’s name and number at no extra expense has likely driven up sales from the club’s own retail outlet.
But it’s also fair to say Arsenal fans were already excited about Gyökeres, someone who scored 97 goals in just two seasons for Sporting, and was impressively close to winning last season’s European Golden Shoe from one of the continent’s lesser weighted leagues.
The Gunners haven’t gone big for a prolific goalscorer in the transfer market since spending what was then a club-record £56 million on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2018.
Arsenal have managed to mount recent Premier League title challenges—finishing second three seasons in a row for their most consistent run in two decades—without a true No. 9. Wingers, attacking midfielders and false nines have been top goalscorers in the last few years, but the club and supporters alike will be hoping that all changes in 2025–26 and beyond.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Viktor Gyokeres ‘Breaks Arsenal Record’ Before Even Kicking a Ball.