On Saturday, Record reported Viktor Gyökeres’ agents have informed Manchester United they don’t want to sign for the Old Trafford club and are targeting a move to Arsenal.
It looked like the player’s camp trying to take power away from Sporting and push the striker’s price down. Without Manchester United in the picture, the chance of an auction between two big Premier League clubs was taken away, and in theory that could put pressure on his price.
At the time we explained it was a risky strategy, because if Arsenal didn’t push ahead and Sporting were insistent on price then it could leave the player in an even more difficult position than he is now.
Sunday’s edition of Record reports Arsenal ‘freeze’ Gyökeres, because Sporting won’t bring the price down. Last week it was reported The Gunners had offered €55m plus a further €10m in bonus payments, which is what they thought would be enough.
There’s a very good chance they thought that because the player’s camp gave them reason to believe so. Regardless, Sporting turned it down and have publicly said they won’t be selling their player for anything like that. Arsenal then showed indications of potentially reaching €70m as a total package but didn’t go further with that, likely because it also wouldn’t have been enough.
Record say the London side have had enough at this stage and feel the price is too high. They believe they have cheaper options in their trio of targets, with Benjamin Šeško and Ollie Watkins named.
Gyökeres is said to still be keen to sign for Arsenal, but for now it’s slowed down.
Whether this is another attempt from the player’s camp, who appear to be trying something new every day, to pressure Sporting remains to be seen.
Atlético Madrid have been presented as a potential option again in the past 24 hours, and their interest stems from Andrea Berta, who left Los Rojiblancos for Arsenal. This isn’t a big story in Spain, though.
A Bola report Arsenal are set to offer a package worth €70m, although it appears like the older Record claims and a bit behind the story. They also state that amount won’t be accepted anyway.
A Bola also have a bit on Manchester United: ‘The Red Devils have been following this entire process since the beginning, however, the desire expressed by the Swede to go to Arsenal ended up making reuniting this relationship that began in Alvalade (relationship being with Amorim, Alvalade is Sporting’s stadium) unfeasible. The player’s priority is a move to London and this scenario will only change if negotiations with Arsenal end up failing.’
It’s a similar case for Juventus, with the player wanting Arsenal above others. Again, this looks like s risky strategy from his camp.
Over in Italy, Viktor Gyökeres is on the front page of Sunday’s edition of Corriere dello Sport, with it claimed Juventus have initiated negotiations to sign the Sweden international and consider themselves to be in pole position.
In talks with the player’s camp, they’re said to have been asked for €7.5m after tax in salary, with is €13m gross.
Corriere dello Sport report €70m + €10m would be enough, and we’d be inclined to agree with them. Juventus are expected to make an initial offer worth a total of €70m in the next few days.
However, they need to sort out Dusan Vlahovic’s future at the same time.
