Viktor Gyokeres was caught on camera travelling to London on Friday, with the player scheduled to hold his medical with Arsenal on Saturday.
David Ornstein reported for The Athletic on Friday morning that Arsenal have now reached a total agreement with Sporting CP to sign Viktor Gyokeres, with the player receiving permission to travel for his medical on Saturday.
Ornstein added that the striker is expected to wear the number 14 shirt at Arsenal, and that the eventual deal was a €63.5m transfer fee with €10m in add-ons, €5m of which relate to Gyokeres’ number of appearances for Arsenal.
Ben Jacobs clarified that the €10m add-on breakdown is as follows:
- €1.25m every 20 games, up to a limit of €5m
- €0.5m every 20 goal contributions, up to a limit of €1m
- €1m every Champions League League Phase qualification, up to a limit of €4m
So if, for example, Gyokeres plays 40 games in his first season, contributes to 20 goals, and Arsenal qualify for the Champions League, the Gunners would owe Sporting an extra €4m. But the club won’t hit the full €10m until 2029 at the earliest.
Gyokeres subsequent travel to London has been very well documented. The player’s agency – HCM Sports Management – posted on their Instagram story to show him boarding the plane, and Fabrizio Romano shared a photo (shown above) of the player on the plane with his agent.
Swedish news outlet Sportsbladet then filmed a video of Gyokeres arriving at London Luton Airport, greeting Arsenal members of staff and getting into the van to take him away.
Mais Futebol report that the vans took Gyokeres straight to Arsenal’s training centre, perhaps to complete some of the paperwork to make the move official and the club media for the announcement. As mentioned, the medical is scheduled for Saturday.
Arsenal will then want to fly Gyokeres out to Asia for the pre-season tour, though it now seems impossible that he’ll be available in time for Sunday’s pre-season game against Newcastle United. Perhaps Thursday’s game in Hong Kong against Tottenham Hotspur is a better bet.
As for Sporting, the club haven’t wasted any time giving away Gyokeres’ squad number.
Despite the fact the Swedish striker’s move to Arsenal hasn’t even been announced yet, Sporting’s Conrad Harder was brought out onto the pitch for a pre-season game against Villarreal wearing the number nine.