Strike threats, father's tears and Keir Starmer's plea: Inside Viktor Gyokeres' £64m Arsenal move

Telegraph

2 days ago

It has taken 12 months and three transfer windows, but for Arsenal fans the seemingly interminable wait for a new striker is almost over. A year after trying and failing to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig, and six months after attempting to buy Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins, Arsenal have finally agreed a deal for a big-money, elite-level centre-forward.
The chosen man is Viktor Gyokeres, the Swedish goal machine who has destroyed defences all over Portugal. Gyokeres is heading to Arsenal, at last, after weeks of negotiations concluded in an agreement worth an initial £55 million with around £9 million in further add-ons.
Arsenal's striker search has been extraordinary in a number of ways. Firstly, because of the length of time it took for the club to accelerate their interest in Gyokeres. Secondly, because of sporting director Andrea Berta's high-stakes 'spinning plates' approach to this transfer window.
And thirdly, because the actual negotiations with Sporting have been so riddled with anxiety that, according to reports in Portugal, Gyokeres' father was recently reduced to tears over his sheer desperation for a deal to be done. There have also been strikes, accusations of blackmail and furious suggestions of broken pacts.
Arsenal fans can probably identify with the reported frustration of the Gyokeres family, albeit on a less personal level. For the supporters of this club, the search for a No 9 has become a collective obsession. Even the Prime Minister has weighed in on the issue. In June, Sir Keir Starmer spoke for his fellow season-ticket holders when he said: 'A striker. That's the one that leaps out and it's been like that for a little while. It's that striker role that we need.'
Why Arsenal chose Gyokeres over Sesko
Arsenal's recruitment operation has been led by Berta, who was appointed as sporting director in March in large part because of his experience of negotiating transfers during his 12 years at Atletico Madrid. This has effectively been Berta's personal project, and the Italian devised a multi-pronged strategy that was unlike anything Arsenal have seen before in recent seasons.
Berta spent the first part of this summer window working on numerous deals for numerous strikers at once. This was not a case of Arsenal identifying one target and then simply pursuing that player until an agreement was reached. Sesko and Watkins remained in the fold for weeks, and Telegraph Sport understands that multiple other centre-forwards across Europe were also contacted.
The benefit of pricing up different potential options is that it allowed Arsenal to make as informed a decision as possible when choosing their forward. But such an approach also has risks.
A few weeks ago, for example, Sesko and Gyokeres were both confident that they were the preferred candidate. In playing his transfer game, Berta had to ensure he was not also playing with the hearts of these men. Only Sesko, who Telegraph Sport understands was indeed the preferred target for many involved in recruitment at Arsenal, can truly say whether Berta succeeded on that front.
Why did Arsenal ultimately decide to prioritise Gyokeres, who was always Berta's preferred pick? One factor is the price: Gyokeres was cheaper than Sesko, partly because he is five years older.
Another obvious factor behind Arsenal's decision is that the Sweden international made it absolutely clear how desperately he wanted the move. Gyokeres and his representatives were willing to go to great lengths in order to make this transfer happen, including torching their relationship with Sporting. Rightly or wrongly, Sesko would never have done the same at Leipzig.
The feeling that Gyokeres is keen for bigger and better things has been underlined by his media appearances in recent weeks. This summer he has been the cover star of two magazines: France Football (in which he said 'I am at the table of the best strikers in the world') and the Scandinavian edition of Vogue. The timing of these things is rarely coincidental.
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On the Portuguese side, the drama truly began in early June, when it emerged that Gyokeres and his camp were furious about an apparent gentleman's agreement being disrespected. Gyokeres and his agent, Hasan Cetinkaya, believed Sporting had promised last season to sell him for £59 million. Sporting's president, Frederico Varandas, did not share that view.
The situation was made more complicated by the mid-season departure of Hugo Viana, Sporting's previous sporting director, to Manchester City. It was Viana, not Varandas, who managed the relationship with the agents of the Sporting players.
Amid suggestions in June that an enraged Gyokeres had refused to ever represent Sporting again, Varandas issued an extraordinary public statement in which he said he would not bow down to 'blackmail and insults'. He also insisted that he would never accept a deal worth '60 plus 10' (£52 million plus £8.7 million in add-ons) for his top scorer.
Clearly, the relationship between player and club had disintegrated. It was no real surprise, then, that Gyokeres did not show up when the Sporting first-team returned for pre-season training earlier this month. Sporting had actually given Gyokeres an extended break, but the Swede's sense of betrayal was acute. For him, there could be no going back.
Player's father left 'distraught' by negotiations
Negotiations between the two clubs took a painfully long time to conclude. Talks have been at an advanced stage for almost three weeks, and the slow nature of these discussions prevented Arsenal from finalising a deal in time for Gyokeres to fly with the team to their pre-season tour of Asia.
A breakthrough, of sorts, was made when the agent agreed to waive his cut. But even then, after the framework of a deal was agreed, the discussion over add-ons has dragged on and on. It has been so agonising for those involved that, last week, Portuguese outlet Mais Futebol revealed that Gyokeres' father had become 'emotionally distraught' and feared the transfer would collapse.
Sporting, it should be said, have history in this regard. A few years ago, Tottenham Hotspur's move to sign Pedro Porro from the Portuguese club almost fell apart before suddenly being revived. In January 2020, a similar situation occurred with Manchester United and Bruno Fernandes. Varandas, a decorated army captain, is evidently a tough negotiator.
It was reported in Portugal this weekend that United were attempting to hijack Arsenal's move for Gyokeres. Whether this was a convenient 'leak' to pressure Arsenal, or a sign of legitimate interest from United, was ultimately irrelevant. The message from Gyokeres and his people remained the same: he only wanted Arsenal.
On Sunday, it emerged that Sporting were accelerating in talks to sign Almeria striker Luis Suarez. And then on Monday morning, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta responded to a question about Gyokeres by saying he 'cannot comment on any player that is not part of our group yet.'
It all pointed to significant progress, and so it proved on Friday, when a full agreement was finally reached and Gyokeres was given permission to undergo medical tests. Arsenal, at long last, have their man.