Arsenal running out of time to sign Viktor Gyokeres before Mikel Arteta's final deadline

The transfer saga of the summer had looked like it was close to a conclusion at the weekend as Arsenal and Sporting CP appeared to come to an agreement over the fee for Viktor Gyokeres. football.london understands the clubs had finally come to terms on a €73.5million (£63.7million) deal for the striker with €10million (£8.4million) of that fee in add-ons.

However, while the overall price has been agreed, the structure and manner in which the add-ons are achieved are the final details that the clubs are trying to iron out. It is thought that the Portuguese side, even after the agent involved waiving a portion of his fee, reportedly wants the add-ons to be near-guaranteed, whereas Arsenal would prefer more challenging criteria to be met.

The longer that the process takes, the longer it’ll be that Gyokeres spends waiting before he can complete the move he has been waiting to see happen for weeks now. In addition, these delays are putting the player at risk of missing a key deadline.

Mikel Arteta is expecting his players to report for the July 19 flight that will see the squad fly to Asia to take part in the pre-season tour. We are now only three days from the deadline, and so far, the club still needs to announce two other potential players: Noni Madueke and Cristhian Mosquera, who have been in London completing medicals.

Gyokeres needs to have the deal finished, complete his own medical, media duties and join up with the squad in these next three days to join up on time. Missing it would be a frustration for the club who want to integrate their new striker as soon as possible.

There is some respite in the knowledge that missing the flight on July 19 would not mean he could not join up with the side later. The first match of the tour against AC Milan is not until July 23, with the next game against Newcastle United four days later and then a Hong Kong-based North London Derby comes four days after that.

Talks continue to try and finally get this fiasco completed and then Gyokeres can get to work with his new teammates with the aim of taking the Gunners to their dream goal of a Premier League title. The wait for which feels nearly as long to most as it has to get the mythical striker signing over the line.

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