Arsenal begin work on signing £63m “powerhouse”

While this season has been nothing short of a failure on the domestic front, Arsenal are still blessed with an incredible array of talent.

David Raya, William Saliba, and Gabriel Magalhães make it nearly impossible for opposing teams to score or create chances. Declan Rice and Thomas Partey can be here, there, and everywhere in midfield, and Bukayo Saka can carry an attack practically all by himself.

However, therein lies arguably the team’s biggest problem, the fact that without the Englishman, the attack just isn’t good enough, and one of the ways Mikel Arteta and Co can address that problem is by signing a prolific number nine this summer.

Arsenal’s pursuit of a new striker

Fortunately, recent reports indicate that they may be looking to do just that and are looking at a star from the continent who is even more of a goal threat than Alexander Isaacwho too has been touted for a move to the Emirates.

Indeed, according to a report from Portugal via Caught OffsideArsenal are incredibly keen on signing Sporting CP star Viktor.

In fact, the report has revealed that the Gunners have begun working on a deal having ‘requested a formal meeting’ with the player’s agent, who is supposedly a close friend of Arteta, which, if true, could prove incredibly beneficial to get ahead of the other interested parties, which include Manchester United.

While the Swedish international has a €100m – £84m – release clause in his contract, the report claims he could eventually be sold for somewhere in the region of €65m-€75m, which converts to between £54m to £63m.

It could be a complicated and costly transfer to get over the line, but given Gyokeres’ immense goalscoring ability, it is one worth pursuing, especially as he could be an even better signing than Isak.

How Gyokeres compares to Isak

So, the first thing to say is that, in their current state, either striker would likely dramatically improve Arsenal’s fortunes next season, but why would Gyokeres be the better signing?

Well, before we even get to their performances, there is the small matter of money, and based on reports earlier this year, the Toon star could cost up to £150mwhich, if true, would either be entirely out of reach for the Gunners or potentially leave them with nothing else to spend.

Moreover, once you get into their actual output, it’s hard to see why the former Real Sociedad star might be worth almost three times as much as the Sporting ace.

For example, in 41 appearancestotalling 3195 minutes, the Stockholm-born “powerhouse,” as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinsonhas scored 40 goals and provided ten assists, which comes out to a staggering average of 1.21 goal involvements per game, or one every 63.9 minutes – for the entire season.

In contrast, the Magpies’ leading man has scored 23 goals and provided five assists in 33 appearances, totalling 2613 minutes this year, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.17 games, or one every 93.32 minutes.

So, the Premier League star is still an utterly superb striker, but he is simply less prolific than his compatriot, and worse still, he’s far more injury-prone.

For example, he’s missed 67 games for club and country since the start of his career, whereas the former Coventry City star has missed just five andafter a season like this one, Arteta and Co might be even more worried about signing players with lengthy injury histories.

Ultimately, either Isak or Gyokeres would improve Arsenal, but given the sheer weight of goals he has scored this season, his price tag and the fact he’s far less injury-prone, opting for the latter might be a better decision.