There hasn’t been a more significant season for Arsenal in recent memory than the one that begins in three weeks as Mikel Arteta’s team attempts to unseat Manchester City atop the Premier League.
Over the past few years, the North Londoners have improved to become one of the best teams in Europe. However, in order to fully cap off their amazing rise, they must end their two-decade title drought, which will require Edu Gaspar and company to assemble the right players in the upcoming months.
The long-awaited signing of Riccardo Calafiori was finally confirmed yesterday, but the striker position is what most supporters want to see strengthened, and according to recent reports, they might soon get their wish.
For instance, after his transfer to Paris Saint-Germain fell through, Victor Osimhen has once more been linked to the Emirates; however, the club has also been linked to another center-forward, who would be a better addition and at a lower cost.
Arsenal’s pursuit of a striker
Arsenal has reportedly rekindled their interest in Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyökeres, according to a recent report from the Italian publication Corriere dello Sport.
As per the report, the Gunners are’very focused on chasing the Swede from Sporting Lisbon’, even though they have asked about Osimhen’s current situation.
The story does not specify a price, but it has been widely circulated that he has a €100 million release clause in his £38 thousand per week contract, which translates to approximately £84 million. However, the Gunners would probably make an opening offer of about £60 million, according to Fabrizio Romano via TEAMtalk.
Even if Arsenal chooses not to pay the full release clause, Gyökeres will still cost a lot of money to sign this summer, but he will be a better acquisition than Osimhen, who is rumored to have cost £109 million.
Why Gyökeres is a more desirable addition than Osimhen
Alright, so there are a few reasons why Gyökeres would be a better addition for Arsenal than Osimhen aside from the price, which is a big one. To start, he is playing at a very high level right now.
For instance, the “incredible” Swede, dubbed so by talent scout Jacek Kulig, scored an incredible 43 goals in 50 appearances last season and added 15 assists for good measure, meaning he averaged a goal every 0.86 games.
On the other hand, the Napoli star made 32 appearances, scoring 17 goals and dishing out four assists. While that’s still impressive, it translated into a worse average of one goal every 1.52 games.
https://x.com/SportingCP/status/1720426505941962953
The second rationale is similar to the first, but instead of examining their output in its raw form, we will examine their underlying statistics, which once again show that Sporting—dubbed the “powerhouse” by data analyst Ben Mattinson—is the winner.
The Nigerian international, for instance, leads in shots taken, but he also leads in every other meaningful metric—including assists and non-penalty goals—and leads by a wide margin in a few of them. These metrics include passes and carries that progress, shots on target, successful take-ons, shot and goal-creating actions, and even won aerial duels, all per ninety.
Lastly, his availability is the final factor that makes the marksman from Stockholm the better signing. Even though he recently had minor knee surgery, he has never missed a senior game due to an injury, in contrast to the former star of LOSC Lille, who has missed an astounding 86 games in his career. After all, availability is often the best talent.
Osimhen may currently be the more well-known player, but Gyökeres has him beat in terms of production, underlying statistics, and availability. Even though Gyökeres plays in a lower league, this doesn’t account for how much the Napoli star is outperformed by him.
