Mikel Arteta immediately identifies next Arsenal transfer after Viktor Gyokeres move
Arsenal are ready to turn their attention to Eberechi Eze once they get a deal for Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres over the line - with the Crystal Palace star tipped to leave the club this summer.
Eze has just scored the goal that delivered the FA Cup to Selhurst Park, also scoring in the semi-final win over Aston Villa. The Eagles are hoping to retain their top talent but keeping hold of their winger could prove a challenge too far.
Arsenal are close to securing a £63.7million deal for Gyokeres, with a No 9 their priority this summer, but they won't stop there and will turn their attention to adding even more firepower to their frontline.
Eze's preference is a move to the Emirates, as per The Independent, and those close to the player are confident a deal to take him to Arsenal will be completed in the next few weeks.
The Gunners hope to secure a deal for £60million, rather than the reported £68m release clause, but negotiations still need to be completed with Palace, who will be loathed to continue losing their top talent. Last summer they sold Michael Olise to Bayern Munich while defender Marc Guehi is linked with a move away.
It has previously been claimed that Arsenal were architecting a deal that would involve three instalments of £20m. Throughout the summer the north Londoners have been linked with adding a wide forward to provide competition for the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
Arsenal were linked with a move for Nico Williams, who was also on Barcelona's radar. It is thought a move to the Nou Camp was on the cards but the delay eventually saw the Spanish winger choose to pen a new 10-year deal with Athletic Bilbao.
Real Madrid 's Rodrygo, who faces an uncertain future at Real Madrid, has also linked with a move to the Emirates, but it now looks as if Arsenal will look to secure a deal for Eze. Last week the north Londoners finalised a deal to land Noni Madueke from Chelsea.
Earlier this week Arteta claimed: "There's still a long time in the window and we are seeking still. In terms of numbers, we are short and we have to improve the depth and quality of the squad. We are constantly looking in the market."
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The Independent
22 minutes ago
- The Independent
Transfer news live: Arsenal strike Eze agreement, Liverpool want Isak after Diaz exit, Man United learn Watkins verdict
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Daily Mirror
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Lionesses fans spot hilarious X-rated comment Chloe Kelly shouts after collecting medal
Lionesses star Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty for England to send the nation into ecstasy but a moment after the Euro 2025 final on Sunday also had fans taking Eagle-eyed fans spotted an X-rated moment from Chloe Kelly in the aftermath of her Euro 2025 final heroics. Arsenal star Kelly once again came off the bench and had a huge impact for the Lionesses, as they beat Spain on penalties in Basel, Switzerland. The 27-year-old came on for the injured Lauren James in the first half, with England 1-0 down. Kelly had scored the winning goal in Tuesday's semi-final victory over Italy but made an even greater impact against Spain. As England chased an equaliser early the second half, the winger whipped in a cross for Arsenal team-mate Alessia Russo to nod home and make it 1-1. Then, during the penalty shootout, Kelly stepped up to take England's fifth penalty and scored in emphatic fashion. She and her fellow Lionesses were then given winners' medals by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin after shaking hands with Prince William. Once Kelly had received her gold medal, she kissed it before turning to the camera and mouthing: "F***ing come on!" Those watching at home on TV were quick to point out her comment. One fan posted on X: "Chloe Kelly 'F***ing come on' Hah. Legend." Another wrote: "Chloe Kelly mouthing 'F***ing Come On!' as she walked away with her winners medal is peak football joy." A third added: "Chloe Kelly shaking hands with Prince William then turning to the camera... kissing her winners medal and saying "F***ING COME ON' was the standout moment of the Women's Euros for me #Legend." Kelly, who memorably scored the winning goal as England beat Germany in the 2022 Euros final, was also heard saying after lifting the trophy: "The first time was so nice, we had to do it twice!" Kelly had a rollercoaster season at club level, having been frozen out at Manchester City. She joined Arsenal on loan in January and helped the Gunners win their first ever Champions League before securing a permanent transfer earlier this month. "There were a lot of tears at full-time, especially when I saw my family because those are the ones who got me through those dark moments," Kelly said after Sunday's final. "I am so grateful to be out the back end. If that's a story to tell someone that maybe experiencing something the same - tough times don't last. "Just around the corner was a Champions League final, won that, and now a Euros final, won that. So, thank you to everyone that wrote me off. I'm grateful." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Lionesses Bring It Home Again - Souvenir Edition
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Viktor Gyokeres has no top-league experience. Can he cut it at Arsenal?
Finally, Arsenal have their man. Their much-heralded, long-awaited No9. Is the arrival of Sporting Lisbon's goal machine, Viktor Gyokeres, the final piece of the jigsaw for a team whose Premier League aspirations have been fatally undermined by the absence of a recognised striker? That has certainly been the narrative, as Kai Havertz or Mikel Merino have been tasked with filling the gaping striker-shaped hole in Mikel Arteta's side. When the one striker Arsenal have signed since 2017-18, Gabriel Jesus, was sidelined with yet another injury in January, the calls to sign someone with a ruthless eye for goal grew louder. Gyokeres — who celebrates every goal by crossing his hands over his mouth to form a mask — is now tasked with silencing those dissenting voices, as well as scoring the goals to propel Arsenal from perennial nearly-men to champions. No pressure, then. The Sweden striker, though, does not give the impression of being a player who is likely to be weighed down by expectation. The 6ft 2in former Brighton & Hove Albion and Coventry City player is a one-man battering ram who plundered goals at a faster rate (1.25 per 90 minutes) than anyone in Europe last season. The menacing mask, thought to be a reference to the comic book character Bane — a villain from Batman known for his brute strength, strategic brilliance and relentless determination — personifies Gyokeres's on-pitch demeanour rather well. Next season will be his first, aged 27, in one of Europe's major leagues, and there are questions about how a player of his profile will step into the Premier League and Arteta's tactical plan. But Arsenal are signing one of the most coveted strikers in Europe; someone whose 97 goals in 102 matches during his two years in Portugal, including 54 in 52 games in all competitions last season to help Sporting win back-to back league titles and the Portuguese Cup, were unprecedented. The rate at which Gyokeres's stock has risen since leaving Brighton for Coventry for £1million in 2021, and Coventry for Sporting for £20million in the summer of 2023, has been astonishing. Gyokeres's Premier League bow might have arrived sooner had Coventry emerged from the 2023 Sky Bet Championship play-off final on the right side of victory. But defeat against Luton Town on penalties ended hope in the West Midlands of keeping Gyokeres, who scored 43 goals for the club over 2½ seasons before moving to Lisbon to work with Ruben Amorim, now the head coach at Manchester United. It was Sam Jewell — Brighton's former under-23s head of recruitment, now Chelsea's director of global recruitment — who first spotted the teenage striker making waves for Brommapojkarna in Sweden's second tier in 2017. Gyokeres scored highly in Brighton's fiercely guarded data model too, which persuaded the club's owner, Tony Bloom, to sanction a then record (but undisclosed) transfer fee for a Brighton academy player. Yet first-team opportunities were limited to eight appearances in cup competitions in three years, and his solitary goal came in a 4-0 EFL Cup second-round win against Portsmouth in 2020. None of Gyokeres's three loans were particularly fruitful either — there were seven goals in 26 Bundesliga 2 games at St Pauli in 2019-20, no goals in 11 Championship appearances at Swansea City in 2020-21 and three goals in 19 Championship games for Coventry the following campaign. Mark Robins saw enough to table a bid, though, and his faith was rewarded emphatically. 'When we signed him [permanently] and he came in he looked like a totally different player,' Robins, the former Coventry manager, has said. 'He looked like he was in a rush, going to do what he wanted to do and shoot the lights out and then move on. I always hoped it would be with us and we almost, almost got there.' Brighton, with hindsight, made a rare error of judgment with Gyokeres. But as Simon Rusk, Brighton's former under-23 coach, says, sometimes setbacks can make a young player. 'His success — although I wouldn't say it's a surprise — just goes to show that if you've got that work rate, that consistency about what you do, it can take you a long way,' he says. Brighton, Rusk adds, were recently promoted when Gyokeres joined and 'the foot was on the floor in terms of trying to maintain Premier League status,' he says. 'Sometimes, timing plays a big part with young players too.' Rusk describes a goal in one of Gyokeres's first games for Brighton Under-23 — a dart into the left channel, before driving inside on to his right foot and arrowing a shot into the corner — that has become something of a trademark. Watching Gyokeres's showreel of goals from his time with Sporting and Coventry, a number of themes emerge. The first is how many are the result of explosive runs in behind the opposition defence — space that will surely be harder to come by given the low defensive blocks Arsenal routinely face in the Premier League. The second is the speed and intelligence of Gyokeres's movement in and around the penalty box; his ability to snaffle a yard in tight spaces and the laser-like precision with which he finds the corners with both feet. The third is his sheer physicality — there are some extraordinary passages of play during which Gyokeres holds off or turns a defender from nothing more than a hopeful forward ball, before barrelling away from his opponent, turning on the after-burners and scoring from almost nothing. The obvious caveat to add at this point, of course, is that neither the Championship nor Primeira Liga is the Premier League. The Portuguese league is ranked by Opta's Power Rankings as the eighth-strongest division in the world, behind the Belgian Pro League, English Championship and Europe's big five leagues. According to Opta's Power Rankings, 11 of the 18 teams in the Portuguese top flight rank outside the top 300, a similar level to teams in England's third tier. These are the teams against whom Gyokeres has scored the majority of his goals. Nineteen of his goals last season were penalties. Only five of his 97 for Sporting were scored with his head — notable, perhaps, because Gyokeres is joining a team already over-dependent on scoring from crosses and set plays. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. However, he has thrived in Europe, scoring 11 in 17 games for Sporting, including a hat-trick against Manchester City in last season's Champions League (albeit twice from the penalty spot). He has been prolific for Sweden lately too, scoring nine goals in six Nations League games in a forward line that includes Newcastle United's Alexander Isak and Tottenham Hotspur's Dejan Kulusevski. Like Kulusevski — and Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall — Gyokeres is a product of Brommapojkarna, the Stockholm-based club that is home to one of the largest youth programmes in Europe. Brommapojkarna's first team have flitted between the top three tiers of Swedish football, but before Gyokeres left for Brighton he scored a hat-trick on the final day of the season to win promotion to the Allsvenskan as champions. Gyokeres met his former girlfriend, Amanda Nilden, who now plays for north London rivals Tottenham and Sweden, at Brommapojkarna too. When Gyokeres moved to Sussex, Nilden earned a place in Brighton's women's team to join him in the UK, although the pair reportedly split last year. Gyokeres was a relatively late arrival to the academy system, a fact that is perhaps still evident in his direct and uncompromising style of play. Between the ages of five and 16, Gyokeres largely learnt his craft playing for his local team, Aspudden-Tellus — who are in line to earn 1 per cent of the transfer fee — where his father, Stefan, a former amateur footballer, volunteered as a coach. Coaches there remember a boy who would cry whenever he lost, whose fiercely competitive nature meant he often fell out with with team-mates. That intense will to win, which occasionally boiled over, comes up repeatedly when you chart Gyokeres's rise. Magni Fannberg, the former Brommapojkarna manager, remembers the teenager to whom he handed a senior debut in 2015 being 'so aggressive' and 'wild' that senior team-mates often had to try to tame the fire in his belly. The Brommapojkarna club captain, Gustav Sandberg Magnusson, recalls one furious half-time tirade during which Gyokeres exclaimed: 'I'm no f***ing full back, I'm a striker. What am I doing all the way back there on the pitch?' At Brighton, Rusk explains, 'You couldn't get him off the training pitch. He'd have the real hump with you if you told him he'd done enough. He was quite challenging from that point of view, but in a very driven, single-minded way'. At Coventry, too — where the mask celebration was born — Gyokeres developed a reputation for being hard to please. 'He hated possession sessions where he couldn't run, and we'd have loads of arguments about it,' Adi Viveash, the former Coventry assistant coach, says. 'But then we gave him bits where we would work on giving the ball to the keeper — designed to put him in one v one, like leaving him up from a corner. And when that came off and he scored, he came back past us in the dugout and just nodded his head as if to say, 'Thanks for that.'' It has been a remarkable rise, then, but the challenge now is clear. 'Nobody cared who I was until I put on the mask,' Gyokeres posted on Instagram last year, quoting Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Is the man behind the mask ready for the Premier League?
