Andrea Berta breaks transfer ‘deadlock’ and agrees huge fee for Arsenal target | Football
The Sweden international had rejected the overtures of Manchester United and his former boss Ruben Amorim to make it clear he wanted to join the north London club above anyone else.
Juventus also registered an interest, but the 27-year-old had eyes only for Arsenal who had made recruiting a new striker one of their main priorities in the transfer window.
Sporting had feared that Gyokeres would be willing to go on strike in order to facilitate a move to his preferred destination.
Arsenal had been haggling over a fee which threatened to scupper a deal but, according to CNN Portugal, a resolution has been struck.
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A delegation, led by Berta, jetted in to Lisbon on Friday and agreed a deal that will see Arsenal pay an initial fee of €65million.
The Gunners could end up paying a further €15m, depending on whether or not certain performance related criteria are met.
Gyokeres is understood to have agreed a five-year deal already and Arsenal could make an announcement as early as next week.
Earlier in the window it appeared as though Benjamin Sesko was cemented as their No.1 target.
The Bundesliga club, however, remained steadfast in their determination not to sell their prize asset for anything less than €90m which forced Arsenal to look elsewhere.
Expert analysis: Viktor Gyokeres
Gyokeres is a bunch of different strikers blended into one. He’s a bulldozer, but he’s also got that turn of pace and knack of finding himself in shooting areas. Some strikers, you can see they overthink things, but he’ll shoot first and ask questions later.
At 6ft 2in, he could definitely add an aerial presence to his game to take himself to the next level, but he’s very good at using his chest as a magnet to win these aerial duels.
He may not be as fearless as others when it comes to aerial duels, but he knows how to use his strengths to his advantage to hold up the ball and bring others into play.
He’s not someone like Roberto Firmino who is going to be dropping deep, so if Arsenal need to change certain things to get the best out of Gyokeres then they should.
Zach Lowy, European football expert
More to follow…
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