After every conceivable twist and turn, the Viktor Gyökeres saga is over. On Saturday morning, the prolific Swedish striker put pen to paper as he signed a long-term deal with Arsenal FC. Gyökeres “will immediately join up with the squad on our men’s pre-season tour in Asia” per the club’s announcement.
Few transfer stories have been as dramatic as the Gyökeres saga. Following two exceptional seasons for Sporting CP that saw the Portuguese side win two league titles
on the back of nearly 70 goals from Viktor, the 27-year-old striker made his intentions to make a move to a bigger club known. With most clubs, that would be an understandable move that they would be willing to facilitate for a big payday. Win-win for player and club.
But Sporting, as they did with Bruno Fernandes’ move to Manchester United and Pedro Porro’s move to Tottenham, dragged it out and played hardball. Between a petulant club President, contentious gentleman's agreements and agent fees, wages being waved, parents in tears, and add-ons being scrutinized under a microscope, it has been an exhausting affair worthy of a telenovela.
But now, it’s done. After weeks of holding out for the chance to sign for Arsenal, Gyökeres has gotten his dream move, and Mikel Arteta has got his man. And all for a truly exceptional fee of £54.8m with up to £9m in add-ons. Considering the absolutely mental state of the striker market, this is a true bargain, and yet another feather in the cap of newly-appointed director of football Andrea Berta.
Said Mikel Arteta of his new striker:
We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Viktor Gyökeres to the club. The consistency he has shown in his performances and availability have been outstanding, and his goal contributions speak for themselves. Viktor has so many qualities. He is a quick and powerful presence up front, with incredible goalscoring numbers at club and international levels. He brings a clinical edge with a high conversion rate of chances into goals, with his intelligent movement in the box making him a constant threat.
When looking at Viktor, the stats speak for themselves. In two seasons at Sporting, Gyökeres has been the world’s most prolific goal scorer. In 66 league matches, he scored 68 times while chipping in 17 assists. Though questions about his ability to reproduce that level of output in a more competitive league are valid, his 6 goals in 8 Champions League matches last season, including a hat trick against Manchester City, give insight into his ability to raise his level when facing stiffer opposition.
If there’s one thing that can be gleaned from the current transfer window, it is a desire to make Arsenal more unpredictable, and that’s exactly what Gyökeres brings. He is a steamroller that crashes the box, bullies defenders, and rips shots with power. His direct, run-in-from-behind style is a sharp contrast to what Arsenal currently have on roster in Kai Havertz, and he allows Arsenal to have a truly multiple attack that can be adjusted to the opposition. He bets on himself and, more often than not, comes out on top.
But it’s not the stats or playing style that have gotten Arsenal fans excited. It has been his adamant desire to play for Arsenal and Arsenal alone. Despite Sporting courting other clubs to make offers when negotiations with Arsenal got tense, he refused all other suitors, including the Saudi league with their seemingly unending ocean of money and Manchester United, managed by his former manager Ruben Amorim. Compared to Benjamin Šeško, who seemed concerned about competing with Kai Havertz for playing time, Viktor’s mentality is unquestionable, further evidenced by taking the iconic 14, made famous by Thierry Henry.
Said Gyökeres:
I just felt that it was the right club for me. What I heard from Mikel and Andrea and just what I’ve seen in the past years. When I was playing against Arsenal last season, I could really feel it was a very strong team. That made me choose Arsenal.
Gyökeres only wanted a move to Arsenal. He refused to show up to Sporting training camp in an attempt to force through the move after he felt that the club was going back on a handshake agreement they had to facilitate the transfer. We can debate the propriety of downing tools — Arsenal have had some unpleasant experiences with players who’ve done that to push their way out of North London — but there’s no debating the Swede’s commitment to Arsenal.
He wants to be here and he wants to prove he belongs. That’s the kind of player that I want at my club. Amy Lawrence of The Athletic wrote a revealing piece about how Gyökeres’ desire to get the transfer across the line is an example of his fight on the pitch. He runs hard, shoots hard, and plays hard. His tenacity, Lawrence suggests, is partly a product of him being a late-bloomer as a player, who had to earn his opportunities and battle to keep his place. She likens his story to that of Arsenal legend Ian Wright, who risked nearly everything in his life for one last shot to catch on at Crystal Palace and didn’t join the Gunners until his late-20’s.
A true, out-and-out lethal striker has long since been the missing piece of the puzzle for Mikel Arteta’s project. In over five years at the helm, Mikel Arteta has only signed one other striker in Gabriel Jesus, who joined in the summer of 2022. He was an immediate ceiling raiser who gave the Gunners a scintillating 6 months, but a knee injury during the 2022 World Cup begot a slew of injuries that have kept him from ever recapturing his original form.
Behind Jesus has been an up-and-down litany of options that have failed to take over the striker mantle and stamp their name on it. Hale End graduate Eddie Nketiah flashed moments of brilliance but couldn’t ever consistently find his second gear, and Kai Havertz has done well as a facilitator and false 9 but has lacked the incisive output needed to take over matches. Mikel Merino shouldn’t have even been at the 9 to begin with last season, but at the very least, he did a job.
The window isn’t over yet, and by the sounds of it, Arsenal are still looking to add to the roster. But for the time being, the Gunners have their gunman.
Welcome to The Arsenal, Viktor!
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