Arsenal look to finally be closing in on a new striker after years of searching for a number nine.
Indeed, Arsenal want to sign Viktor Gyokeres, and this deal appears to be advancing.
However, according to Fabrizio Romano, there has been a hiccup in these transfer talks over the past couple of days.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano says that there was an issue in these talks due to the number of details that were being leaked to the press.
Romano says that things got tense between Arsenal and Sporting on Sunday evening, but talks have now restarted.
Viktor Gyokeres celebrates a goal for Sporting CP
Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images
Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal talks became tense
Gyokeres wants to sign for Arsenal, but this deal remains a touchy situation for all involved.
According to Romano, Sporting want to be firm in negotiations, and the fact that details were being leaked to the media caused some tension in talks.
Ultimately, talks are ongoing, but it seemingly hasn’t been smooth sailing for Arsenal on this front.
“For Sporting, it is not just about the money, it is also to show how firm they are in negotiations. On the other side, the leaks around the story were not helping. In terms of discussions and negotiations,” Romano said.
“It got quite tense on Sunday night, but on Monday they restarted negotiations and today they continue, any hour could be the hour for Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal.”
Sporting CP record sales
Sporting CP are trying to hold firm as they prepare to sell Gyokeres, and that’s something the Portuguese side have been good at in recent times.
Indeed, while Sporting, ultimately, often lose their best players, they can be difficult to negotiate with, as Premier League sides know only too well.
Sporting CP record sales Fee
Bruno Fernandes £57m
Manuel Ugarte £55m
Geovany Quenda £44m
Matheus Nunez £43m
Pedro Porro £39m
Bruno Fernandes is Sporting’s record sale, but before he joined Manchester United, Fernandes looked set for Tottenham, but Sporting made a deal difficult.
On top of that, Tottenham had to haggle a lot to sign Pedro Porro from the Portuguese outfit too.
Geovany Quenda is set for Chelsea, but Manchester United tried for Quenda to no avail.
Sporting are no pushovers in the transfer market, and Arsenal need to be very cautious in these negotiations.