Who is Victor Gyokeres? The Arsenal and Chelsea transfer target has been one of the standout performers across Europe in the first-half of the 2023/24 season and naturally, the continent’s biggest clubs are starting to circle.
Gyokeres has been in sensational form so far this campaign and has been tipped to make a move to the Premier League, with the Gunners and the Blues at the front of the queue. The 25-year old won’t come cheap, however. He has a release clause written in to his contract for a cool £86m.
Who Is Viktor Gyokeres?
Viktor Einar Gyokeres was born on June 4th 1998 in Stockholm, Sweden and plays as a centre-forward for Sporting Lisbon and the Swedish national team. Gyokeres started his professional career at Brommapojkarna, where he netted 20 league goals in 56 appearances between 2015-17.
A year later, Gyokeres joined Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion but he only featured in the EFL and FA Cup for the Seagulls.
A series of loan moves ensued, with his most notable spell at Coventry City, before the EFL Championship side snapped him up permanently for £1m in July 2021.
Since then, Gyokeres hasn’t looked back and his two full seasons in England‘s second tier saw him net a total of 40 goals in 97 appearances in all competitions.
In the summer of 2023, Gyokeres signed for Portuguese giants Sporting for a fee reportedly in the region of £20m.
The switch has been a huge success for both parties with Gyokeres registering 30 goal contributions in just 24 outings. It’s no surprise the Swede is in demand.
Did Viktor Gyokeres worth £100M??
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Arsenal Interested In Gyokeres
It’s no secret that Arsenal are short on firepower in front of goal and it’s of little surprise to see them linked with some of Europe’s hottest strikers, including Viktor Gyokeres.
Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka have all been below par in terms of their goal returns this season and Gyokeres could be the answer.
Not only is he already established in England, albeit in the EFL Championship, but Gyokeres has made a mockery of defences in Portugal and he looks primed for a Premier League return.
The Gunners are currently five points adrift of leaders Liverpool after a poor run of form over the festive period and are already out of the FA Cup, so reinforcements are a must.
Boss Mikel Arteta is rumoured to be interested in signing Brentford’s Ivan Toney or Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke, but whispers have started to get louder surrounding the possibility of Gyokeres.
Earlier this month, we took a closer look at where Arsenal need to strengthen the most in the January transfer window. The North Londoners could certainly do a lot worse than signing Gyokeres.
Gyokeres Chelsea Transfer
According to reports, Chelsea were prepared to offer £73m to sign Viktor Gyokeres as similar to London rivals Arsenal, they too have been lacking in the goals department this season.
However, football transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has ruled out that possibility and has claimed the Blues had not submitted a bid of any kind.
Sporting will likely be adamant that the only way they will part company with Gyokeres is if his £86m release clause is met, so a summer switch is the more viable option.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have spent lavishly across the last three transfer windows and with FFP rules set to be breached, the Argentine manager will need to offload surplus players before acquiring new ones.
Conor Gallagher’s future at Stamford Bridge is still uncertain along with a number of other fringe players so once Pochettino clears out the deadwood, expect more big-money signings like Gyokeres to arrive in West London.
Victor Osimhen has been rumoured to be on the Blues radar for the summer and we also took a closer look at where Chelsea would need to strengthen in January.
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