Silly season is here, and it looks set to be a busy one for Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta and new Sporting Director Andrea Berta will be looking for the right attacking players who could help them finally get over the line in the Premier League next season.
One of the most interesting links in recent weeks has been to Real Madrid superstar Rodrygo, who has been a key component of a team who have won it all in recent years – even if 24/25 was a bit of a disappointment.
There is no doubt that the Brazilian is just the sort of signing that would get fans on their fee, but if recent reports are to be believed, the club may be closing in on another signing, someone who’d be even more exciting than the winger.
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Before we get to the star in question, it’s worth going over some of the other incredibly exciting players who have been touted for moves to Arsenal in recent weeks and months, such as Rayan Cherki and Benjamin Sesko.
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The former could be available for around £30m in the coming weeks, and that might end up being one of the bargains of the window, as in just 44 appearances for Lyon this season, the young Frenchman has scored 12 goals and provided 20 assists.
Sesko, on the other hand, might cost as much as £75m, but as he’s still just 21 years old and managed to rack up a tally of 21 goals and six assists in 45 games for RB Leipzig this season, he may well be an investment worth making.
Yet, if Arteta and Co really want to get the fans excited ahead of next season, they need to sign someone who can come in ready to score bags and bags of goals, someone like Viktor Gyokeres.
So, supporters should be delighted that, according to a recent report from Italy, Arsenal are in active talks with the Swede’s representatives, and they have already offered him a contract until 2030.
Furthermore, the report has claimed that Sporting CP is asking for a fee of around €65m, which is about £54m, to give the “green light to the sale” and allow the Gunners to complete a signing that would be even more exciting than the potential signing of Rodrygo.
Why Gyokeres would be a more exciting signing than Rodrygo
So, the first thing to say is that both players would be simply brilliant additions to this Arsenal squad, but there is one fundamental reason from which all others stem as to why Gyokeres would be more exciting than Rodrygo: his output.
Even with everything that went wrong this season, the Gunners were still able to produce the best defence in the Premier League, so to bridge the gap and overtake Liverpool, they need someone who can come right into the first team and start scoring goals for fun, which is just what the Swedish “powerhouse,” as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, could do.
For example, since he joined Sporting CP ahead of last season, the former Coventry City star has scored a simply astounding 97 goals and provided 28 assists in just 102 appearances, totalling 8417 minutes.
That means the goalscoring “monster,” as dubbed by Mattinson, has averaged 1.22 goal involvements per game, or one every 67.33 minutes for two seasons now.
In contrast, the Real star has scored 31 goals and provided 19 assists in 102 appearances, totalling 7067 minutes, since the start of last season.
Appearances
50
52
Minutes
4169′
3777′
Goals
43
18
Assists
15
9
Goal Involvements per Match
1.16
0.51
Minutes per Goal Involvement
71.87′
143.04′
Appearances
52
50
Minutes
4248′
3290′
Goals
54
13
Assists
13
10
Goal Involvements per Match
1.28
0.46
Minutes per Goal Involvement
63.40′
143.04′
That comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.04 games, or every 141.34 minutes, which is still impressive but nowhere near as good as the Stockholm-born marksman.
Ultimately, in an ideal world, Arsenal should sign both players, but as an out-and-out goalscorer is what they need more than anything else at the moment, it has to be said that Gyokeres would be just about the most exciting addition Berta and Co could make to the team this summer.
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