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Arsenal have set plans in motion for just about every Viktor Gyokeres transfer possibility as talks with Sporting CP rumble on. The Gunners wanted to have him available for their pre-season tour of Asia but a final agreement is still yet to be reached.
Just over £55million (€63.5m) has been agreed in principle as the initial fee with a further £8.4million (€10m) available in add-ons. The Portuguese champions are keen to have those bonuses be easily attainable, but Arsenal only want just a few million to be guaranteed and this is where the deal is being held up.
A breakthrough in negotiations this weekend was the hope but it does not look as though that will be arriving with numerous contingency plans in place depending on when the switch could be finalised.
According to the Mirror's Ryan Taylor, Arsenal are still hoping that Gyokeres will feature in their pre-season tour of Asia, but that no green light arriving by early next week may result in the club opting to keep him in England once the move is sealed.
That scenario would see the Swede follow a tailored individual training schedule at London Colney after passing a medical.
For Gyokeres to join up with his new teammates overseas, a full agreement would need to arrive in the next 72 hours. However, there is still a possibility that he can play some part even if no imminent breakthrough arrives with football.london's Tom Canton providing an update on the situation.
"Arsenal had hoped to have their new striker, currently Viktor Gyokeres, on the flight to Asia," he posted to X. "Mikel Arteta was very keen to have his new player on the plane. Talks continue at a very advanced stage and the player is able to join up late (same for Mosquera) once all completed.
"I say currently because of course the deal remains incomplete but important to stress with talks with Sporting CP at such an advanced stage, the club remain calm. The hope will be the Swede could play some part before the team return for London matches vs Villarreal & Athletic."
Neither Noni Madueke or Cristhian Mosquera were part of the travelling contingent with the latter still waiting for his move from Valencia to be ratified.
The former meanwhile, despite having his transfer from Chelsea announced on Friday, has not been included. Despite wanting to make the journey, the Gunners insisted he takes the three-week holiday he is entitled to having played for the Blues at the Club World Cup less than two weeks ago.
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