Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres is set to complete his move from Sporting to Arsenal this weekend and be handed Thierry Henry’s iconic No.14 shirt.
The deal is set to be worth £63.5 million, and the forward will fly out to meet his new team-mates in Asia for the Gunners’ pre-season tour.
The 27-year-old is expected to sign a five-year contract with the Premier League club in the coming days.
Mikle Arteta has made it a priority to bring in a top-level centre-forward, especially after his side fell short in front of goal last season, scoring 17 fewer than champions Liverpool and finishing 10 points behind them.
And now a lot of trust has been put in the former Coventry and Brighton striker, who will sport Henry’s famous number on his back.
He also joins Theo Walcott and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in taking the number, two successful Arsenal players.
Arsenal are currently in Singapore on the first leg of their pre-season tour of Asia. When asked on Friday, Mikel Arteta said: “I cannot talk about a player who is not ours yet,” but did indicate that any signing would be brought into the squad as soon as possible.
“For sure. Obviously once we have finalised everything with a player we want to integrate him with the team as quickly as possible.
“With Noni it was impossible because he needed some time [after playing in the Club World Cup]. I think he’s going to take a shorter vacation than he deserves because he wants to join us straight away, as soon as we’re back.
“I think immediately is better so they can start to join the team, get to know each other and get the ideas we want to put in their minds.”
Gyokeres has attracted attention throughout the summer window after a prolific season for Sporting, scoring 54 goals in 52 matches.
Gyokeres has proven himself at every step of his career. He netted 97 goals in 102 games across two seasons in Portugal and helped Sporting win consecutive Primeira Liga titles.
Prior to that, he was one of the standout forwards in the Championship with Coventry, where he scored 43 goals in 116 appearances and was named in the division’s team of the year for 2022–23.
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