Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal transfer truth as Ruben Amorim Man Utd move hits Chelsea and Liverpool

Viktor Gyokeres is likely to be the name on everyone's lips come the 2025 summer transfer window. The Swedish striker is having a second scintillating season for Sporting CP in the Portuguese league.

After smashing 43 goals in 50 games for Sporting last season, he already has 23 in 17 appearances this campaign. The latest of those 23 came against Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with Gyokeres hitting a hat-trick in the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

The 26-year-old is hot property, having been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League this summer. Arsenal were tipped to make a move, with Mikel Arteta in need of strengthening his forward line, but decided in the end not to go for an out-and-out striker.

Raheem Sterling ended up moving to the Emirates Stadium on loan, but the feeling around the red half of north London remains that they need another striker.

Gyokeres has a €100million (£83.2million) release clause that is rumoured to be dropped come the summer of 2025, which could make it easier for Arsenal to complete a deal. However, Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim making the move to become Manchester United head coach could throw a spanner in the works.

Chelsea and Liverpool were also linked with Gyokeres, as were Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, although City have Erling Haaland and Spurs splashed out £65million on Dominic Solanke this summer.

So where could Gyokeres end up next season? We asked our football.london writers to have their say.

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Lee Wilmot

It's going to be another summer transfer saga isn't it? We all thought Gyokeres would move to the Premier League this summer, but it didn't happen. And we're going to be in for the same in 2025.

Gyokeres is undoubtedly one of the hottest properties in world football right now. He was scoring goals for fun in the Portuguese league last season, but the fact it was the Portuguese league was the real bone of contention. Could he do it on the biggest stages?

Well, he's added Champions League goals to his game this year - five of them in four matches to be exact - and is already proving he's not a one-season or one-league wonder.

Arsenal could really do with him - I felt they could have done with him this summer. They need a striker, of that there is no doubt, and he is one of the best around right now, that is clear. There will be links with Manchester United, but I'm not sure, with young Rasmus Hojlund there and Joshua Zirkzee having signed this summer, that the hierarchy will want to splash out again.

If Erling Haaland leaves Manchester City, Gyokeres would be an ideal replacement at the Etihad Stadium, while Liverpool may also be interested in a striker, depending on what happens with Mohamed Salah's contract situation.

There will be no end of suitors and Arsenal are probably the most in need, but I've got a sneaky feeling Liverpool might be the move.

Tom Coley

It might not be popular, but I am not sold on Gyokeres. His record speaks for itself at the moment but the sort of price tag we're looking at is far too much of a risk for a player who will be 27 come the start of next season.

It is likely going to take over £70million, at least, to prize him away from Sporting, even with both Amorim and Hugo Viana already out. That's just an enormous amount of money.

He scores a lot of goals but 11 of his admittedly absurd 45 in the Portuguese league have come from penalties. That still leaves 34 in 45 games from open play, which is mightily impressive, but there are still doubts from my side over how it would translate into the Premier League.

Would he be able to bully teams the way he does at Sporting domestically? I'm not sure. In close spaces, the sort that Arsenal or Manchester United would be asking him to play in, there are unanswered questions.

For Arsenal, it's not worth replacing Kai Havertz with Gyokeres. Havertz isn't good enough elsewhere on the pitch and they would both want to play. If it's a big, dynamic forward who can head, power about, and score goals that is wanted, Havertz is already there.

Chelsea have Nicolas Jackson, who continues to develop at an increasing pace as a tremendous all-round forward. He is more than just a goalscorer and has strings to his bow I'm not sure Gyokeres does, although the strength of finishing is a point for the Sporting man.

Liverpool went for Darwin Nunez from Benfica and have largely been stung by the money paid. There have been flashes of quality but not enough on a regularly basis to say it has been worth it. Would they really go in again?

Then there's United. It makes too much sense, perhaps, for Gyokeres to follow Amorim. That might be the best outcome, though. He would score a respectable but not incredible 17 league goals in his first season and then drop off, a bit like Romelu Lukaku.

Joe Doyle

It will probably end up being one of the big sagas of the summer, and there are a few possible destinations for Gyokeres.

I think the least likely of all the currently touted teams is Manchester City. At this stage of his career, the 26-year-old knows he would actively be signing up to be second-choice to Erling Haaland. While City offer a reliable chance of trophies every season, he won't want to give up being a first-choice striker when his stock is as high as it is and he could realistically be a starter at a number of clubs.

At Manchester United, a lot will depend on the next few months. The Ruben Amorim connection is obvious, and United have had a terrible start to the season in terms of goalscoring. Gyokeres would tick a lot of boxes, but if the manager can get Rasmus Hojlund scoring regularly before the end of the campaign, United may decide to use their resources elsewhere in the summer.

Arsenal are the team with arguably the highest need for an out-and-out No.9. Kai Havertz has filled in the role better than many had expected after the initial plan looked to be that he'd play as a midfielder in Mikel Arteta's team. And if they can get a bargain price in the summer he'd certainly tick a lot of boxes.

If I were placing a bet, I'd have to say that Old Trafford seems the most likely destination at this stage, though.

Tom Canton

The big question about Viktor Gyokeres is whether he would prove those who have doubts about his application from last season transferring to another. Well, prior to his demolishment of Manchester City he has indeed carried over that form and now he has exercised it on one of Europe's elite.

Strong, quick, powerful and predominantly ruthless in front of goal, yes he misses chances but he takes them at a rate of knots more so than most others. His strike of the ball is so compelling and there are some Erling Haaland vibes which I thought were once in a generation for strikers but clearly not.

Arsenal have liked late-blooming centre-forwards in the past, Olivier Giroud, for example, was one signed from Montpellier after winning the league and would go on to score more than 100 goals for the club. I think Gyokeres is everything Arsenal need to take their centre-forward position to the next level and under Mikel Arteta, and Edu too although much less relevant now, the club has moved for the positions it needs.

Be that Gabriel at centre half, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey in midfield, Leandro Trossard in the wide area or Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber in the full back areas. So, despite the Ruben Amorim links, Chelsea's ever-present presence in the market or other European competitors, Arsenal are well-placed and I sincerely hope they act.

Richard Cusack

Gyokeres would be absolutely perfect for Arsenal. He wouldn't be cheap, that's for sure, but is in the form of his life and has been doing it consistently for the past year or so and already has a whopping 22 goals to his name already this season. Crucially, he has been operating in a system whose architect, one of the best young coaches in football, has been headhunted by a Premier League rival.

Arsenal are missing a powerhouse forward who can bully defenders and impose himself on his opposition and act as a real talisman for his team. Scandinavian and with five years in England already under his belt, he will fit the Premier League like a glove and if he really is available for a knockdown price next summer, then Arsenal simply have to make a move for him.

Being the main character of City's humiliation on Tuesday night is not the sole reason he should be brought in, but it certainly helps. His goalscoring record over the last few years is simply superb. He's netted at least 20 goals in every season since 2022-23, and even in the campaign before he scored 18 times.

With a League title under his belt at Sporting, he also has a winner's mentality.

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