Arsenal have finally solved their striker conundrum by completing the signing of Viktor Gyökeres from Sporting for an initial £55m.
The 27-year-old Sweden international, who fired Sporting to the title last season with 39 goals and struck a Champions League hat-trick against Manchester City, is understood to have signed a five-year deal at the Emirates.
Gyökeres’ transfer, which could end up costing as much as £64m with performance-related add-ons, takes Arsenal’s close-season spending to the region of £200m.
He becomes Mikel Arteta’s sixth summer signing and follows defender Cristhian Mosquera (£13m), midfielder Martin Zubimendi (£60m), goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga (£5m), midfielder Christian Nørgaard (£10m) and forward Noni Madueke (£48.5m) in moving to north London.
Arsenal confirmed the news with a brief post on X that read: “This is where you need to be. Viktor Gyökeres is a Gunner.”
Gyökeres will be expected to meet his new colleagues in Arsenal’s ongoing pre-season tour of Singapore and Hong Kong. The Gunners face Newcastle in the Singapore National Stadium on Sunday before the concluding game of their tour, against Tottenham in Hong Kong on 31 July.
Manager Arteta said: “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.
“We’re excited about what Viktor brings to our squad and are looking forward to start working with him.”
Gyökeres moved to Brighton from Swedish side Brommapojkarna in January 2018, but spent time on loan at St Pauli and then Swansea and Coventry, before making a permanent move to the Sky Blues in July 2021.
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After Coventry were beaten on penalties by Luton in the 2023 Championship playoff final at Wembley, Gyökeres completed a £20.5m switch to Sporting. He scored 97 goals in 102 matches for the Portuguese side.
Arsenal spent the concluding months of last season without a recognised striker following long-term injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz. Even before then, Arsenal were in need of a reliable scorer, and Arteta will hope his new signing can fire him to his first silverware since he won the FA Cup in 2020, and end the club’s two-decade wait for a Premier League title.
Arsenal’s new sporting director, Andrea Berta, has wasted little time in strengthening a squad which has finished runners-up in the league for the past three seasons.
Gabriel Magalhães and Myles Lewis-Skelly have also put pen to paper on new contracts in the off-season, with a long-term extension for teenager Ethan Nwaneri believed to be all-but completed.
