Arsenal have presented an opening transfer offer to the representatives of Viktor Gyokeres, according to reports. The Gunners are prepared to pay Sporting a hefty fee and compensate Gyokeres with a handsome weekly wage in order to get their hands on Andrea Berta's top attacking target.
Gyokeres finished the season with more league goals than any other player in Europe - and by some distance. The 26-year-old netted 39 times in 33 games to secure back-to-back Liga Portugal titles for Sporting, having also topped the division's scoring charts the season prior. Now, with Sporting reportedly prepared to sanction a deal for a lower fee than his £84million release clause, Gyokeres is expected to move on.
According to Correio de Manha, Arsenal chiefs made their move during a trip to Lisbon to watch the Women's Champions League final on Saturday. A meeting was reportedly set up with Gyokeres' agent, and an offer was presented, with the details to be passed on to Sporting.
The Gunners are understood to have proposed a fee in the region of £58.7m, with add-ons sweetening the deal for the Portuguese side. Gyokeres, meanwhile, would be due to receive a salary worth just under £6m per year, for five years, which works out to just over £113,000 a week.
That figure would leave the Swede a long way behind Arsenal's highest earners, who are paid more than twice as much. But a mammoth signing-on bonus worth £10m would also form part of the proposed package.
Manchester United were viewed as contenders to sign Gyokeres this summer, given that the striker put up incredible numbers while working under Ruben Amorim. But reports indicate that a move to Old Trafford is becoming increasingly unlikely.
Gyokeres was pinched from Swedish football by Brighton in 2018, but he left the Amex three years later without ever making a Premier League appearance for the Seagulls. He scored 40 goals in 97 games for Coventry City before joining Sporting in 2023.
Arsenal need more firepower in attack after finishing 10 points behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race. Mikel Arteta was forced to operate without a recognised centre-forward for a large part of the season following injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko is another centre-forward with admirers in north London. Arteta is rumoured to be a big admirer of the Slovenian international, but Arsenal are only expected to sign one of either him or Gyokeres.