Arsenal can give Viktor Gyokeres dream shirt number now 'transfer clause agreed'

Arsenal are perfectly positioned to lure Viktor Gyokeres to the Emirates Stadium this summer after freeing up the Sporting Lisbon hitman’s favourite shirt number.

The 26-year-old fired 43 goals in 50 games for Sporting last season and has quickly become one of Europe’s most sought-after goalscorers. Chelsea and Liverpool were both been credited with an interest in the striker this summer before being priced out by the Primeira Division outfit’s demands.

But the Gunners are now reportedly set to step up their interest in Gyokeres and are preparing to submit an official bid to Sporting in the region of £55million to £60million, according to Fabrizio Romano on the Daily Briefing.

Arsenal have been raking in huge fees for their academy graduates, with Emile Smith Rowe set to finalise a £34m switch to Fulham and substantial bids reportedly arriving for attacking pair Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson from elsewhere in the Premier League.

The flurry of fringe player departures will hand Mikel Arteta a massive boost to the club’s transfer coffers to launch a bid for Gyokeres, as well the Spaniard being able to offer his top target the shirt number he has always wanted.

While Gyokeres wears the No. 9 for Sporting, he has consistently worn the No. 17 for his country and donned the digits for Coventry in his three years playing for the Sky Blues. Now that right-back Cedric Soares has been released following the expiry of his contract, Gyokeres’ favoured number is available.

He also had the No. 42 printed on the back of his shirt during his unsuccessful stint with Brighton. Going further back to his first professional club in Sweden, Gyokeres experimented with 15, 25 and 27 at Brommapojkarna, and only the No. 27, taken by youngster Marquinhos, is currently unavailable.

With plenty of numbers to choose from, the only remaining issue is the two clubs agreeing a suitable fee. Gyokeres signed for Sporting for just £20m in August 2023 from Coventry and the Portuguese outfit have been standing firm on their valuable of their coveted frontman.

As part of the deal that took him to Portugal, the Championship outfit negotiated a 15 per cent sell-on clause to give them a share of the proceeds if Gyokeres earned a big-money transfer in the future.

In anticipation of that scenario, Sporting paid a sum of £1.7m (€2m) to reduce Coventry’s percentage of the fee from 15 per cent to 10 per cent, which could eventually land them a larger chunk of the fee if he moves to Arsenal, according to Record.

They would be powerless to prevent Gyokeres leaving if a club triggers the release clause written into his contract, which stands at £84.2m (€100m). Coventry would be entitled to £8.4m under those terms, with Sporting taking their share of £75.8m.

While it may represent a significant outlay, his potential move to north London would give Arteta the regular goalscorer his squad has been crying out for – and that is priceless for Arsenal after missing out on the Premier League title last season to Manchester City by two points.