Long-time Man Utd-linked striker Viktor Gyokeres is reportedly in formal talks with Arsenal.
CCN Portugal have told us that "Gyökeres to Arsenal talks now formal!
🗣️ The striker’s agent is currently in a meeting with Arsenal’s owners, as discussions have now moved into the formal stage.
💭 Gyökeres has always dreamed of playing for the Gunners" via The Football Terrace.
It isn't exactly surprising because the forward has been rumored to be closest to joining either of United or the Gunners but as time was going by, it appeared more likely that he was to link up with his former manager Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford.
Arsenal remained in the hunt but it just seemed like United was the likelier destination. This looked to be even more true when it was reported that Mikel Arteta and co were/are looking at Benjamin Sesko as a potential striker.
That news hasn't dialled down and perhaps they want both Sesko and Gyokeres? I don't think many thought that that was a possibility. I mean, who buys two top strikers nowadays?
We know that Amorim favors Gyokeres over most other available no 9s given their history and the undoubted quality of the player as well as suitability to the system and what we need in our team, but maybe that could be taken away from him?
With all that being said though, a lot of people feel that this news isn't necessarily true. I myself felt that when I saw "Gyokeres has always dreamed of playing for the Gunners."
Sure 🙄.
That might be true but I don't think he's ever come out and said he dreams of playing for either United or Arsenal.
This report could also be used to get United or any other club in for him to start to move quicker should they want to sign the striker. When rivals are competing for a player you want and can offer more and better things (better football, CL football) then you might need to get a move on.
This for me seems to be the case becauswe like I said, it's very rare that clubs try to sign two top strikers. It's very rare for clubs nowadays to have two top strikers whether signed or already at the club.
Sesko's price is rumored to be around the €65-70 million (£54-58 million) which isn't far off the reported fee of €80m (£66.5m) which is what Sporting want for Gyokeres. That fee has upset the Swede to a point where he's said to be on strike after this number broke the "gentleman's agreement" he and Sporting had where the Portuguese champions would let the 27 year old leave for €70m.
So now that all that news is out of the way, let's just say he were to go to Arsenal or another club, who would be next on United's list as a backup should Gyokeres not come?
Liam Delap was said to be a number 1 priority for MUFC but as he joined Chelsea, that obviously couldn't happen (thank God 🙌). This meant United had to look elsewhere with Gyokeres and Victor Osimhen being potential targets.
The two Vic/ktors only became targets once Delap was gone rather than a genuine backup plan by United, in my opinion. There weren't any real rumors that we were in for them whilst Delap was still available.
Once he joined the Blues though, that's when more fuel was added to the Gyokeres and eventually Osimhen transfers.
These are two players that have been linked with United even before this window but as it looked to me that the club didn't actually have a backup if we didn't get Delap and that Gyokeres and Osimhen were somewhat forced onto us because of it, who would the club look to if we cannot sign the man behind the mask?
Maybe the man with the mask?
Osimhen is the next best striker who's available. When looking at what's needed at United, he's a perfect fit and I don't think the fan base would be too disappointed if he was signed instead of Gyokeres despite the Swede having priors with Amorim.
Osimhen is world class and ticks all the boxes of what is required in our team.
The problem with trying to sign the Nigerian consists of many factors, one of which is his high wage demands said to be in the region of £200-£400k-a-week. That is obviously quite steep but not entirely unusual for a club like United. I do believe we want to be moving away from this but considering the quality of player he is and the high wages we pay to others who are nowhere near his level, is it completely out of the question?
Napoli have also been difficult to negotiate with as they've tried to increase the asking price for the striker in the past. His collapsed deal to Al-Ahli last season was due to the fact that Napoli were asking for too high a fee resulting in him not moving to the SPL.
This caused some distrust towards the club when it came to doing potential deals however, one can get creative and use swap deals or include players going the other way in addition to paying a fee. Joshua Zirkzee was one such player that was reported that United would be open to him moving to Naples and Osimhen coming the other way.
I suppose our club has a good relationship with Napoli as they bought Scott McTominay from us and is a player whom they're really happy with, and could potentially get Alejandro Garnacho as well. Maybe that could help?
But this Osimhen deal is difficult to do for many reasons.
Other options include Jonathan David of Lille as well as Hugo Ekitike of Eintracht Frankfurt, both of whom have been linked with moves to United in the past. The problem with Ekitike in particular is that both Chelsea and Liverpool seem to be more interested in him which would make it more difficult for United to sign the striker.
We could of course sign no one and keep what we have. However, Rasmus Hojlund has been woeful and Zirkzee is no true striker. What could work is that with the addition of Cunha and potentially Mbeumo as well as already having Bruno, Amad and others, there could be more creativity in this team to start creating more oppostunities for the striker which could help.
There is the option of starting Zirkzee up front but as he likes to drop deep, it could allow the two no 10s (whoever they are but particularly Cunha and Mbeumo) to run in behind as they are formidable in attack (35 PL goals between those two last season).
There are options for United but I would be surprised if Arsenal got both Sesko and Gyokeres. Whoever they get, we could try for the other. There is also Osimhen despite the difficulties of that potential deal and the younger options of David and Ekitike.
One thing's for sure though is that it looks like Viktor Gyokeres will be leaving Sporting. Hopefully his destination is Old Trafford but if not, then at least we have other strikers we can go for because we desperately need one.
What do you think about Gyokeres potentially moving to Arsenal and United missing out on him? Who should we sign if we can't him?
Viktor Gyokeres is linked with a move to Arsenal | Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Magalhães: Photo by Hugo Amaral/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images - Arsenal Insider