Arsenal finally pressed the button. A centre-forward was a need, not a wish, after Eddie Nketiah’s exit and a season bent by injuries: Kai Havertz’s hamstring in winter, Gabriel Jesus’ knee soon after.
The recruitment plan ran parallel tracks—Benjamin Sesko or Viktor Gyokeres—until Mikel Arteta chose the Swede who lives in the corridors where titles turn.
Agreement in principle is reached with Sporting CP: around £55m guaranteed plus £9m in add-ons (about €63.5m + €10m) according to David Ornstein. Personal terms are set. To speed the move, Gyokeres’ camp trimmed commission. The clock matters; Arsenal want him on the plane for the pre-season tour.
There was politics. The player believed a pact allowed a £60m exit including bonuses when Hugo Viana ran Sporting’s market.
Viana departed for Manchester City; the president resisted that promise. Gyokeres stayed firm, skipping the opening of pre-season. Compromise followed, and the door opened.
Fit is the point. Gyokeres brings wall passes and knife finishes, hits space early, and presses with purpose. With Bukayo Saka wide and Martin Ødegaard threading, Arsenal gain a finisher who turns pressure into maths.
Havertz can roam as a second arrival; Jesus can change tempo; rotations finally keep the threat constant.
This is urgency with restraint: a fee that signals belief without breaking the room. It carries risk—translation from Lisbon to London is never automatic—but the upside is a striker whose habits match Arteta’s order.
Arsenal needed certainty in the six-yard box.
Now they’ve bet on it, boldly and on time.