Viktor Gyokeres set for awkward meeting with Arsenal star after 'steal' jibe amid £69m transfer

Viktor Gyokeres may be forced to face an awkward chat with Gabriel Magalhaes amid his impending transfer to Arsenal. football.london understands that the Gunners are working on a deal to sign him from Sporting CP. It has also been claimed elsewhere that personal terms have been agreed.

Talks for Benjamin Sesko had stalled in recent weeks despite it being clear that he was the preferred striker signing. RB Leipzig's asking price and their want to have the full fee paid up front has resulted in no progress being made and thus focus switched onto Gyokeres with transfer talks advancing very quickly.

Mikel Arteta's desire to have a striker in before the club's Asia pre-season tour later this month, as football.london had already revealed, has likely been one of the reasons as to why things have moved so swiftly. This is also why groundwork on multiple deals is extremely important.

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Despite a falling out with Sporting over how much he would be allowed to leave for, it seems as though a deal totalling £69million (€80m) may be enough with club president Frederico Varandas stating he believes Gyokeres is worth more than what three other players have cost.

“If you ask me today, there is a strong possibility that Viktor will leave. We have been keeping an eye on the market, I saw a player like Zubimendi, who is six months younger than Viktor, go to Arsenal for €65 million (£55m)," he said in late June as quoted by Portuguese media outlet A Bola.

"I saw two players being sold in the Premier League – Matheus Cunha and [Bryan] Mbeumo – forwards who do not have the quality of Viktor, in my opinion, were sold for around €70m."

The expectation since early 2025 was that Gyokeres would be departing Portugal and Arsenal has been his focus. That has seen him turn down moves to Juventus and Manchester United and though he has been sold on the project under Arteta, he will have to face an awkward reunion upon signing.

Last November, Arsenal and Sporting met in the Champions League at the Estadio Jose Alvalade with the visitors coming out on top. Gabriel was on the score sheet that evening and he chose to pull off a very similar celebration to what has become Gyokeres' trademark by interlinking his hands and placing them over his face.

The 27-year-old later gave a tongue in cheek response to what the Gunners defender did.“He’s welcome to steal it if he can’t create his own celebration," Gyokeres told ViaPlay. “I didn’t know he did that, but it’s fun he likes my celebration.”

Gyokeres' response was certainly playful and it is highly unlikely there will actually be any issues between the pair as they are set to become teammates.

It also later emerged that Gabriel seemingly mocking Gyokeres' celebration was not a direct dig at him but revenge for Pedro Goncalves doing similar when Sporting knocked Arsenal out of the Europa League a few years ago.

The Brazil international also pointed out that it was a Batman reference with the hand placement he used different to Gyokeres'.