Just under three days ago, a wave of optimism was sweeping through North London. Arsenal appeared to be closing in on one of the summer’s transfer bombshells, and finally, a resolution to the complex situation surrounding Viktor Gyokeres seemed to be in the air.The Swedish striker had agreed terms with the Gunners, Arsenal and Sporting had accelerated negotiations, and all that remained was for English and Portuguese media — along with transfer insiders across Europe — to break the news that a deal had been struck. But then…Gyokeres and Arsenal – green light blinkingPortuguese outlet Record, one of the country’s most reputable sources, reported today that the transfer of last season’s Golden Boot runner-up is in jeopardy. The problem lies in the fixed transfer fee, and that’s where talks have hit a wall. Arsenal offered a fixed fee of 65 million, plus 15 million in bonuses.Although that totals the 80 million that Sporting is asking for, the Lisbon club wants the fixed portion to be 70 million. In other words, the clubs are 5 million apart, and nothing has changed on that front for the past two days.Viktor Gyokeres’ transfer to Arsenal has ‘STALLED’ 😲❌ pic.twitter.com/OYWV4kj1LW— Mail Sport (@MailSport) July 9, 2025 Arsenal’s sporting director, Andrea Berta, has returned to London empty-handed. The transfer has been postponed, but Sporting still hopes it will eventually go through. The Lisbon team is scheduled to regroup on Friday — the same day Gyokeres’ vacation ends. He has already informed the club’s management that he won’t be returning to training, as he’s determined to move to a major European club.Gyokeres is set to earn a salary in London four times higher than his current one — 8.3 million per season on a five-year contract. Arsenal’s delegation is expected to return to Lisbon on Friday to make another attempt at finalizing the financial terms of the deal.Waiting for Gyokeres here we go pic.twitter.com/rTBiIaz6T7— B(fan) (@Arsenal_vic) July 8, 2025 To recap: in June, the Premier League runners-up informally approached Sporting with an offer of 55 million. In the meantime, a dispute broke out between Gyokeres and Sporting over a broken gentleman’s agreement.The striker’s contract with the Portuguese champions includes a clause stating that the club must pay 10% of any rejected bid to his agent, Hasan Cetinkaya. Sporting threatened that if Cetinkaya insists on invoking that clause, the club would demand the activation of Gyokeres’ €100 million release clause.##NAJAVA_MECA_9009565##
