Arsenal in talks to sign Sporting striker Gyokeres

Gyokeres has won back-to-back Portuguese League titles with Sporting

Arsenal are in talks to sign Sporting's prolific Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres for £70m.

As first revealed by BBC Sport on Thursday, Arsenal have had a clear focus on completing a deal for the 27-year-old in recent days and the club are now advancing in their pursuit of the forward.

Discussions over personal terms for Gyokeres and with the Lisbon club over a transfer fee are accelerating, with Arsenal's sporting director Andrea Berta leading negotiations.

A deal has not been finalised though, and there remains a degree of caution at Arsenal until agreements are reached.

Gyokeres has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League after scoring 97 goals in 102 matches during two seasons in Portugal.

The Gunners completed the £60m signing of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad on Sunday.

But the movement towards a deal for Gyokeres represents a significant development in Arsenal's summer transfer business given a new striker was the club's main priority.

Gyokeres' task is clear - analysis

Sami Mokbel, senior football correspondent

It appears Viktor Gyokeres will be the man Mikel Arteta will rely on to make the difference next season.

Arsenal's critics are adamant the club's title challenge foundered last season because of their lack of an elite forward.

If Gyokeres arrives, they are recruiting a striker who has scored prolifically in the Portuguese top flight.

The obvious question is how that goalscoring ability translates into the Premier League. If all things go according to plan, we are about to find out.

Arsenal are tired of finishing second, so Gyokeres' task is clear: propel the Gunners to the title.

Who is Viktor Gyokeres?

Gyokeres made his professional debut in 2015 in his native Sweden for IF Brommapojkarna.

By September 2017, he had caught the eye of newly promoted Premier League side Brighton and agreed a two-year contract with the Seagulls, officially joining the following January.

While still playing for Brighton's youth team, he made his debut for Sweden in January 2019 in a defeat by Finland. He scored his first international goal three days later in a 2-2 draw with Iceland.

However he still struggled for opportunities with Brighton and was sent on loan to German second-tier side St Pauli for the 2019-20 season.

It was at the Hamburg club where he began to thrive, scoring seven goals in 26 appearances.

A month into the following season, Gyokeres scored his first, and only, Brighton goal - finding the net in a 4–0 League Cup victory over Portsmouth.

Nevertheless, weeks later he was loaned to Championship side Swansea City.

He played 12 times and managed one goal for the Swans during three months in Wales before being recalled by Brighton and sent on loan to Coventry City in January 2021.

Gyokeres scored three goals in the second half of the season, including his first league goal in English football, and made his move permanent that summer at the age of 23.

During the next two seasons, he would become one of the most prolific strikers in the Championship.

In 116 appearances for the Sky Blues he scored 43 goals and helped Coventry to a FA Cup semi-final in 2023, where they lost on penalties to Manchester United.

In the same season, he was named in the Championship team of the year as Coventry reached the play-off final, but were beaten on penalties again - this time by Luton Town.

That summer he moved to Portugal, signing for Sporting for about £20m.

Since his arrival in Lisbon, Gyokeres has scored 97 goals in 102 appearances and helped Sporting win back-to-back league titles as well as the 2024-25 Portuguese Cup.