- 22 hours ago
Arsenal end Osimhen chase and resurrect deal for goal machine
Carlo Garganese
- 23 Jun 2024 20:00 BST
- 3 min read
Arsenal have dropped their interest in Victor Osimhen and are now resurrecting a deal for Sporting Lisbon goal machine Viktor Gyokeres.
That is according to TuttomercatoWeb which reports that Arsenal now have a new priority target for the striker position this summer.
The Gunners had initially planned to sign Benjamin Sesko, but those plans changed when the Slovenia striker surprisingly decided to sign a new contract and stay with RB Leipzig.
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Arsenal then moved their attention towards Napoli striker Osimhen but they have been scared off by his €120 million release clause and asking price.
Therefore, Arsenal have returned to Gyokeres, who himself has a €100m release clause in his Sporting Lisbon contract.
Arsenal have no intention to pay such a huge amount but they will try to negotiate a much smaller fee.
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Arsenal move for Gyokeres
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes that Gyokeres can bring the team the goals they have missed from the number nine position in the last two seasons.
Gyokeres scored a sensational 43 goals in 50 games in all competitions for Portuguese champions Sporting this past season.
His 29 league goals means he finished the season as Primeira Liga top scorer.
Arteta has been forced to often use Kai Havertz in an unnatural striker role this past season.
While Gabriel jesus has impressed over the last two seasons in his overall play, he has not proved to be prolific enough for a team who wants to win the Premier League and challenge for the Champions League.
Jesus has just 19 goals in 69 appearances for Arsenal, a total that Gyokeres more than doubled this past season alone for Sporting Lisbon.
Gyokeres has a release clause of €100 million in his Sporting contract and it had been initially reported that the Portuguese side would demand this price in order to sell this summer.
However, there have been reports since that Sporting will actually accept bids of far less than that for the Sweden star.
