Arteta wants more attackersArteta wants more attackers
Arteta wants more attackers | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Sporting CP are set to move quickly to block interest from Arsenal and others.
Sporting CP will reportedly offer a new contract to a player Arsenal are said to be showing interest in. Arsenal are about to start a hugely fascinating summer transfer window, with a special 10-day window set to open on June 1 to cater for the FIFA Club World Cup.
The window will give Arsenal the chance to strengthen early, while the bulk of their business is expected to be done in the main window later in the summer. The Gunners need a number of signings, including a striker, winger, centre-back and back-up goalkeeper. Mikel Arteta has said of the club’s plans for the coming weeks: “With the coaches, analyse everything, what we've done as a team, what we've done individually, put all the plans together that they are almost done, sit down with them, finalise a few things that still have to be planned out, decided, timings of that and go for it.”
A number of players have already been linked with Arsenal, including RB Leipzig frontman Benjamin Sesko, who is reportedly the club’s number one choice when it comes to a striker. Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres has also been linked, but he is not the only player from the Portuguese club to be linked with the Gunners.
Record claim Francisco Trincao is someone Arsenal have expressed an interest in as they look to land a winger, with the former Wolves loanee scoring 11 and assisting 19 times this season. Trincao struggled at Barcelona but has found a more comfortable home back at Sporting, and the best should be yet to come at 25 years of age.
But if Arsenal want to land Trincao, they might have to move quickly, with the report adding that Sporting CP want to lock him down with a new contract. It’s claimed Sporting will move to take Trincao off the table by topping up his contract with a pay rise and another year or two, with the current deal set to run until 2027.
Trincao is now valued at £29.5million, and Wolves may now be kicking themselves because, in 2021, they actually paid £5million not to sign the player at the end of the loan deal they had with Barcelona.
Trincao may not have succeeded at Barca, but he speaks positively about the experience. Reflecting on the move, he told Mundo Deportivo: “I had been playing for Braga for a short time and was going to play for Barcelona… I had only started playing regularly for two or three months. I thought my father was joking with me.”
“I scored a great goal and provided an assist against Moreirense, had a great match, and called my father. I didn’t know what to do. I went to see my father, and he told me everything about how it might happen or not, and within those three days, we signed the contracts, and I joined Barcelona.”
The attacker added: “At the time, due to Covid, I did the pre-season with the new signings like Pedri and Matheus Fernandes, but we had to do everything in shifts, and obviously, it wasn’t the same. The whole team arrived at the end, we got together, and suddenly the season started.”
“I became friends with Pedri, and everything became easier. Honestly, I never had serious problems adapting. I always felt comfortable in such a big club, the city was also incredible, and the culture was similar to ours.”
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