LONDON: Arsenal have finally agreed a fee of £63.5 million to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon.
The Gunners will pay £54.8 million as a basic fee with an additional £8.6 million in performance-based incentives for the 27-year-old striker, who will sign a five-year contract.
Gyokeres’ agent, Hasan Cetinkaya, agreed to waive his 10 percent commission, thus reducing the fixed fee Arsenal would have to pay without affecting the overall amount Sporting wanted.
After weeks of difficult negotiations with Sporting, the north London club are finally set to land their top target this summer, with an official announcement expected in the next few days.
Gyokeres will become Arsenal’s fourth signing of the summer after Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea, Christian Norgaard from Brentford and Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad.
The club also agreed a £52 million transfer for Chelsea winger Noni Madueke, who left the club before the Club World Cup final earlier this morning.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta wants to complete the signing of a key striker before the club departs for a pre-season tour of Singapore and Hong Kong this weekend.
Last season, Arsenal often played without a true number 9 striker, which contributed to them falling 10 points behind champions Liverpool.
Sporting initially demanded a base fee of £60.4 million, plus a further £8.6 million in performance bonuses.
However, Gyokeres refused to return to Sporting’s pre-season training because he insisted on moving to the English Premier League club.
The Swedish striker joined Sporting from Coventry City in 2023 and has since developed into one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe.
Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta was in Lisbon last weekend to lead talks with the Portuguese champions.
MUNICH: Bayern Munich are ready to splash the cash to sign Liverpool’s Luis Diaz this summer.
The German giants will compete with Barcelona and Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr to sign the striker.
But their main problem is the Premier League champions’ refusal to let go of Diaz, whose contract only expires in 2027.
The situation has forced clubs interested in Diaz to provide large sums of money and Barcelona are now said to be ahead in the competition.
Barca have already made formal contact with Diaz’s representatives, and last month Hansi Flick’s squad was confident of bringing the Liverpool striker to La Liga.
However, Bayern are also interested and have given the green light to their manager, Vincent Kompany, to spend up to 51.6 million pounds for Diaz.
It is only slightly higher than the amount set by Liverpool, who previously rejected Bayern’s offer, saying the 28-year-old would not leave Anfield.
Diaz made 50 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring 17 goals and assisting another eight.
The Colombian joined Liverpool from Porto in January 2022. He is the second Colombian to win the Premier League after Juan Cuadrado with Chelsea.
MIAMI: After pulling off the biggest upset at the Club World Cup so far, Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal will have their sights set on reaching the semi-finals when they face Brazilian club Fluminense in Orlando early tomorrow morning.
The Saudi Pro League club put in a superb performance to beat English Premier League club Manchester City 4-3 in extra time in the last 16.
Although there was no lack of effort and courage in Al-Hilal’s performance against Pep Guardiola’s squad, it was also accompanied by impressive tactical discipline, form and technical quality.
And they will be remembered for putting Middle Eastern football clubs on the world map through victories that gave them international influence.
Italian manager Simone Inzaghi took over the team just before the start of the tournament and has deployed experienced talent such as Portuguese defender Joao Cancelo, former Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly and Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
And Milinkovic, who played alongside Inzaghi at Lazio in Serie A, proved his most influential performance against City and earned praise from Guardiola.
Inzaghi is happy he has key players he can communicate with and use their experience for the big test.
“I don’t need to know Sergej. He’s a great player who has a combination of quality and quantity,” Inzaghi said after the match.
“He runs a lot, I’m like all the other players. He’s like Koulibaly and Joao Cancelo, speaks Italian, so he also helps the staff and me,” he said.
Fluminense also beat expectations by advancing to the last eight after beating Champions League finalists Inter Milan 2-0.
LISBON: Sporting Lisbon have dealt Arsenal their latest blow by insisting they will not compromise on the value of Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres in this summer’s transfer window.
Club president Frederico Varandas has publicly warned the Gunners that only offers of around £70 million will be considered to release Gyokeres.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has set Gyokeres as their main target to strengthen their attacking line-up ahead of the new season, while also monitoring RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko.
But both of those moves have yet to become a reality.
Gyokeres, 27, is understood to be frustrated with Sporting after claiming the club broke promises to a verbal agreement that allowed him to move for around £60 million, lower than his official release clause of £80 million.
The striker is now reportedly refusing to play until his transfer issue is resolved.
However, Varandas stressed that the club will not bow to any offer that is deemed not to reflect the true value of Gyokeres in the current market.
“We don’t need to sell Viktor Gyokeres. We are calm and always sensitive to the dreams of Viktor and all our players.
“But after weeks of negotiations, we decided not to demand the full value based on the release clause, but rather a price we consider fair. At this time, I believe there is a high probability that he will move,” he said.
Varandas also compared Gyokeres’ value to several other players in the transfer market.
“I saw Zubimendi, who is six months younger than Viktor, sold to Arsenal for £51 million.
“(Matheus) Cunha and (Bryan) Mbeumo were also negotiated to Manchester United for around £64 million, although I don’t think they have the market value or quality comparable to Viktor,” he explained.
He also hinted that Sporting would not hesitate to keep Gyokeres in Portugal if Arsenal continued to insist on their offer.
LONDON: Brighton are reportedly ready to submit a lucrative offer to secure the services of Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott in an effort to strengthen their midfield ahead of the new English Premier League (EPL) season.
According to The Sun newspaper , the club has made Elliott their main target after the 22-year-old England player is said to be finding it increasingly difficult to get playing time under Liverpool manager Arne Slot.
Brighton are said to be ready to bid around £40 million to convince the Reds to let go of the player, who made 45 appearances last season in all competitions – mostly as a substitute.
The move was also supported by the presence of James Milner, a former Liverpool senior player who is now with Brighton and was Elliott’s mentor when they shared a dressing room at Anfield.
In fact, Brighton’s more open and attacking tactical approach is seen as more in line with Elliott’s playing style, compared to other teams such as Nottingham Forest who were also linked but rejected by the player.
Liverpool are also reportedly open to considering offers, particularly to raise funds to pursue Newcastle United sensational striker Alexander Isak.
Elliott, who joined Liverpool from Fulham in 2019, still has great potential and is expected to be a key name in the England national team of the future, making the race to sign him even more exciting in this summer window.