Arsenal have reportedly decided to leave the race to sign Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres as he’s too expensive at €80m.
The Gunners are now set to turn their attention towards signing either RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko or Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, according to Record.
Gyokeres has been a revelation since moving to Sporting, scoring a remarkable 97 goals in 102 games in all competitions for the club.
The Sweden international had previously struggled for playing time at Brighton, and only really made a name for himself in the Championship with Coventry City.
Now, however, it’s easy to understand why Arsenal considered him, even if they now seem to favour Sesko or Watkins.
Viktor Gyokeres transfer saga takes another twist
Gyokeres has been the subject of much speculation recently, with Manchester United also linked with the 27-year-old.
There were some claims that Gyokeres had decided to reject the Red Devils, however, as he supposedly favoured a move to the Emirates Stadium.
See below, however, as Ben Jacobs has played that down, suggesting Man Utd could still be an option for the former Coventry man…
Viktor Gyökeres prefers a move to the Premier League, and would welcome an Arsenal bid, as @Record_Portugal reported.
Arsenal still deciding between Benjamin Sesko and Gyökeres. Andrea Berta simultaneously advancing both deals.
Gyökeres would be open to Manchester United. There… pic.twitter.com/7ChaUMKf6p
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) June 14, 2025
Gyokeres himself has not said much about his future, though he did seem to take a dig at some of the comments being made about him.
“There’s a lot of talk at the moment, most of it is false,” Gyokeres said last week, as reported by Fabrizio Romano. “I will speak when the time is right.”
Who should Arsenal sign up front this summer?
Gyokeres’ scoring record at Sporting is outstanding, but Arsenal might do better to go for someone more proven in one of the more competitive leagues.
Sesko is younger and has already impressed in the Bundesliga, while Watkins has the benefit of being proven in the Premier League.
Here’s a look at their scoring records in the last two seasons…
| Player | Games | Goals |
| Viktor Gyokeres | 102 | 97 |
| Benjamin Sesko | 87 | 39 |
| Ollie Watkins | 107 | 44 |
Who would you sign up front for Arsenal this summer? Let us know in the comments!
At any day, I would go with Sesko
Sesko@
why sesko
sesko is the man
I think Viktor is the best
Nunez was ‘great’ in Portugal before signing for LFC…..Sesko plays in a top 5 league, younger, higher ceiling….
Benjamin Sesko
I would go for Sesko considering the fact that he’s still young @22, he still has time to develop into another level of his career. Secondly, the German Bundesliga is almost the same as that of Premier League so he doesn’t require much adoption.
If buying players is predicated solely on the level of league they play, then African, Asian, and Middle East players would not have been playing in top European leagues. Are all EPL- or top-five European-based players successful? The answer is NO. Are there exceptions to players coming from lowly-placed leagues who have made remarkable progress in the EPL? The answer is an obvious YES. Therefore, it is illogical for Arteta to use the argument of Gyokeres playing in a lower league to price him out of Arsenal. To be sure, Gyokeres is going to strengthen Man U or any other EPL club. Perhaps, his consequential success in the EPL will attract Arteta and Arsenal to bid for him when his acquisition cost would have doubled as is the case with Isak. Isak was on Arsenal’s radar three seasons ago, but Arteta chickened out bcos he thought he didn’t have the pedigree to compete in the EPL. One is compelled to conclude that not all managers or clubs have comparable ambition to win trophies at the first call. By now, a club that has been successively thrice runner-up would have desired to buy a top-rated striker and not to rest on Havertz or Jesus. Even the manager would restructure his playing strategy to accommodate such an important player. No, this is not the case with Arteta who thinks he’s the Lord of the Manor in Arsenal. As usual, Arsenal fans might not be surprised to see that Arteta’s haggling posture and reluctance to sign quality players will redound to panic buying when other clubs might have cleared the market for some of these players.
Thank you Victor, let those who have ears hear cheaper alternatives doesn’t work and Sesko will not solve the equation he is an average player being over priced and overrated, we can not say he is a good player for the future while the team needs to win trophies.
The window will close without any meaningful buys as Arteta is repeating the same mistake of buying Harverts on high fee and his high salary is not being justified in the playing field only surviving because Arteta want to highlight that he is a good manager who can turn outcasts to be stars costing the team.
The problem is it appears as if Arteta has the ovaral say on transfers the policy need to be changed as he has failed this is being testfied by the amont of money for transfers being availed to him as compared to other former managers
That’s a whole lot of words to write when the only basis is a guess.
Honestly, you have no clue why Isak wasn’t previously bought… and yet you use that as a stick to beat Arteta with, while at the very same time, you fail to explain why (if it was that obvious how good he was) a team like Newcastle managed to sign him. Not Bayern, not Real Madrid, not Barca, not even Chelsea or Spurs.
You have such an obvious problem with Arteta that it’s all you can see. Sort yaself out and look at what you’ve said… not one sentence is fact, just drivel opinion from someone with no clue.
gyokeres is an instant fix , dont lose him over a few pounds , title guaranteed with viktor up front.
Sesko
If i was at Arsenal’s board I would go for both of them, and bring them together at the Emirates Stadium.
I am afraid Arsenal are not serious about signing a striker. They will end empty handed like last season. There is something wrong with there transfer policy. Is very flustering ideed!
Dusan Vilaovic is the future for Arsenal 💪🏾
sesko it is
I choose victor for now,we need to win trophy as soon as possible and has all the attribute to make every team stronger.victor the goal pocher.