Viktor Gyokeres Arsenal debut plan with transfer imminent ahead of Newcastle and Tottenham

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Arsenal have finally found a breakthrough in negotiations with Sporting Clube de Portugal for Viktor Gyokeres, football.london understands and as first reported by David Ornstein.

football.london reported over the weekend that Arsenal remained calm as they entered the final stages of negotiations with Sporting. A fee of €63.5million (£55m), plus €10m (£8.7m) in add-ons, has been agreed in principle.

But the delay stemmed from ongoing discussions over the deal's final structure. On Tuesday, Arsenal reached a verbal agreement with the Portuguese side.

The Athletic reported that only the 'finishing touches' and 'some minor tweaks' are required before the striker can complete his switch to the Emirates.

It's also said that his agent, Hasan Cetinkaya, waived his commission to help facilitate the move. Gyokeres' contract with Arsenal is set to be valid until the summer of 2030.

Arsenal, however, would have hoped to complete the deal before flying out to Singapore for their pre-season tour of Asia. They will play AC Milan on Wednesday (July 23), followed by a match against Newcastle United four days later.

The tour will conclude with a game against Tottenham on Thursday (July 31). football.london understands that Gyokeres can join the squad in Asia after completing his medical to begin training with the team.

At this stage, it's unclear whether he will feature in any of those matches.

The more likely scenario is that he makes his debut against Villarreal at the Emirates on August 6.

He is also likely to face Manchester United in the opening game of the season at Old Trafford.

Ruben Amorim’s side tried to complete a swoop for the Swede, but his heart has been set on a move to Arsenal for a long time.

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The Sweden international will become Arsenal's fifth signing of the summer following arrivals of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Noni Madueke, Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard.

"Andrea [Berta] and the team have done an excellent job as well, trying to push everything forward," Mikel Arteta previously said, hailing the work done by the club. "There's still a long time to go in that window. We have a lot of hope that we can still improve the team. We're going to continue to try to do that."

Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023

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