Viktor Gyokeres talks 'planned amid Chelsea, Arsenal interest'

The 25-year-old has exceeded expectations since joining Ruben Amorim's side from Coventry City last summer, quickly becoming one of the most feared marksmen in Europe.

Gyokeres joined Sporting on the back of netting 21 Championship goals in 46 matches last season, and he has already struck 22 Primeira Liga goals in just 26 outings in 2023-24, in addition to chalking up nine assists.

The former Brighton & Hove Albion man has also come up with 14 strikes across the Europa League, Taca de Portugal and Allianz Cup, taking his total for Sporting to a phenomenal 36 goals and 15 assists from 41 games in his debut campaign.

One goal clear of Braga's Simon Banza at the top of the Primeira Liga scoring charts, Gyokeres's remarkable feats in Portugal have naturally sparked speculation surrounding a swift return to England, albeit in the top flight this time.

Gyokeres price set amid Arsenal, Chelsea links

According to Fabrizio Romano - via football.london - the player's representative Hasan Cetinkaya, who helped engineer his switch from Coventry to Sporting, is now meeting with the Lions to discuss a possible departure at the end of the season.

Arsenal and Chelsea are both rumoured to be pursuing Gyokeres's services, while Manchester United have also been credited with an interest, but the two London clubs are said to be at the head of the queue.

With the 25-year-old contracted to Amorim's side until 2028, though, he will not be prised away from Lisbon on the cheap and could reportedly command as much as £85.8m to depart after just one season.

Nevertheless, Cetinkaya is apparently hoping to set out the conditions for Gyokeres's prospective exit in the upcoming talks, after which the agent will begin discussing terms with interested parties.

Thanks to Gyokeres's efforts, Sporting are on track to be crowned Primeira Liga champions, sitting four points clear of Benfica with a game in hand thanks to Saturday's 2-1 triumph over their closest challengers.

Have Arsenal already found the answer to their striker conundrum?

Even with Mikel Arteta's Arsenal scoring goals and smashing records for fun in 2024, the red carpet has been rolled out for a marquee number nine to take the Emirates walk in the summer, as the Gunners opted to keep their warchest closed in January.

Following the summer sale of Folarin Balogun, neither Eddie Nketiah nor the injury-plagued Gabriel Jesus have set the world alight for Arsenal, but Arteta's unyielding faith in one formerly ridiculed man is now paying dividends.

Initially brought in to plug the midfield gap left by Granit Xhaka's exit, £65m signing Kai Havertz is now thriving as Arsenal's focal point and bagged his ninth goal of the Premier League season in Saturday's 3-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.

The German displayed exemplary attacking instincts to deceive Lewis Dunk and work a yard of space to receive Jorginho's cutback inside the six-yard box, thus registering his best attacking return in a single Premier League season, after which he also laid on an assist for Leandro Trossard.

Whether Havertz will indeed be Arsenal's long-term attacking solution remains to be seen, but with nine goal contributions from his last seven top-flight contests, Arteta has every reason to persist with the German as his main striker for the time being.