Arsenal have failed with a formal offer to sign Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyökeres, but the clubs are still considered “close” to settling on a transfer agreement.
Gyökeres’s 54 goals for Sporting last season have made him one of the most talked about players on the market this summer. But the Portuguese champions have understandably refused to do business on anyone’s terms but their own.
That has led to frustrations from Gyökeres and even suggestions that he could refuse to train once pre-season begins in an attempt to force Sporting’s hand. But things may be about to be resolved.
Sporting haven’t demanded the full value of Gyökeres’s €100 million (£86.4 million, $117.3 million) release clause as a gesture to him. But claims that they would sell for as little as €60 million (£ 51.8 million, $70.4 million) proved to be wide of the mark.
The price is €80 million (£69.1 million, $93.9 million), although The Guardian writes that Arsenal’s current offer totalling that amount has been rejected because the structure doesn’t suit Sporting.
The Gunners are thought to have proposed a package worth €65 million (£56.2 million, $76.3 million) in guaranteed money and €15 million (£13 million, $17.6 million) in add-ons. Sporting want a higher proportion of the overall transfer fee to be guaranteed, €70 million (£60.5 million, $82.1 million).
Crucially, there isn’t much in it and the two clubs are described as being “in constructive dialogue”, with the end of the transfer saga also thought to be in sight.
Mikel Arteta is said to want Gyökeres signed before the squad heads to Singapore for a pre-season tour on July 19. Arsenal have already captured Kepa Arrizabalaga and Martín Zubimendi, with Valencia centre-back Cristhian Mosquera and Chelsea winger Noni Madueke also being worked on.
Gyökeres can be considered a late bloomer. At the age of 27, he has still only played in 66 top-flight league games in his career to date, with all of those within the last two seasons at Sporting.
He never made a Premier League appearance for former club Brighton & Hove Albion and didn’t come through the youth ranks of one of Sweden’s big clubs, getting his break in the lower leagues. But Arsenal are equally no strangers to success in this area. A certain Olivier Giroud was 24 when he got his top-flight break in France, 15 years ago, and went on to score 105 goals for the Gunners.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Viktor Gyokeres: Arsenal Bid ‘Rejected’, Price Tag Revealed.