Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are all keen to sign Sporting Lisbon star Viktor Gyokeres, who just scored a hat-trick against Manchester City.
Gyokeres found the back of the net three times in Sporting’s impressive 4-1 Champions League victory over Pep Guardiola’s side on Tuesday night.
With a remarkable 66 goals in 67 games for Sporting, the 26-year-old Sweden international has established himself among the most-wanted strikers in Europe with Arsenal, Chelsea, United and City set for a huge transfer race.
It was recently reported that Gyokeres – who has a €100m release clause – will be allowed to leave Sporting for a lower fee in the summer transfer window at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
But which club makes the most sense for Gyokeres and his career and who will he ultimately decide to join? Metro has decided to take a look at three contenders…
Arsenal
It’s no secret that Arsenal wish to recruit a new, top-level No.9. They have been heavily linked to several strikers in the last few recent windows – including Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney.
Gyokeres is also on their wishlist, despite manager Mikel Arteta recently rejecting the suggestion that Arsenal are missing an out-and-out centre-forward to compete with the likes of Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
The north London club are well suited to Gyokeres in that he’d likely slot straight into their XI, although the same could be said for both Chelsea and United.
The main difference between Arsenal and the other two teams, putting them in a slightly stronger position, is that they’d be genuine contenders for Premier League and European titles, with Chelsea and United seen as longer-term projects.
Former Gunners defender Bacary Sagna feels Arsenal’s style of football would be perfect for Gyokeres.
‘He’s amazing,’ Sagna told Metro. ‘He’s a pure striker who would offer some depth. He’s also quite tall so whenever the team are out wide, they can cross the ball a bit more and that’s been missing a bit for me.’
Chelsea
Chelsea can’t be ruled out either. Under the ownership of BlueCo, the west Londoners have no problem with spending big in the transfer window.
The Blues beat Arsenal in a tense race to sign Mykhailo Mudryk in January 2023 and there could be a similar battle to secure Gyokeres’ signature.
With Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku impressing this term under Enzo Maresca, Chelsea may decide to prioritise strengthening in other areas.
But they’ve been warned by Gary Neville that they won’t close the gap to other top sides unless they bring in a world-class striker like Gyokeres.
Former Blues star Pat Nevin, meanwhile, said in May that ‘Chelsea need a simple finisher’ and ‘someone who has good numbers when the ball goes into the box’.
Gyokeres would certainly fit the bill in that respect – and like Arsenal – Chelsea have the lure of being a London club, which is attractive to some foreign players.
Man Utd
United is perhaps the most obvious choice for Gyokeres, given that his current manager Ruben Amorim will soon swap Sporting for Manchester himself.
Amorim has managed to get the best out of Gyokeres – but it’s unlikely United will sign him – unless one of Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee or Antony is sold.
It should also be noted that United’s sporting director Dan Ashworth sold Gyokeres when he was working at Brighton.
Gyokeres has appeared to distance himself from rumours he could be set to follow Amorim to United.
‘I don’t know,’ Gyokeres said. ‘I’m here. As you can see, I enjoy it at Sporting. ‘It’s nothing I really think about.’
Amorim, meanwhile, has urged Gyokeres to stay at Sporting for the rest of the season.
Verdict
All three clubs could argue that they are best suited to Gyokeres. But Metro predicts that Arsenal are the most likely to land his signature at the moment.
However, Gyokeres may decide to snub the lot of them and pick City, who view him as a potential successor to Erling Haaland, or even Liverpool if they free up funds by offloading Mohamed Salah, who has been tipped for a summer exit.
It’s also a possibility that the Swede could reject the Premier League altogether and move to a top club in Spain, Germany, Italy or elsewhere.
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