Exclusive: Arsenal transfer interest in one player has “heated up” since this key development | OneFootball

Arsenal’s interest in a potential transfer swoop for Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres seems to have heated up since Andrea Berta’s arrival.

Berta recently replaced Edu as sporting director at the Emirates Stadium, and he looks like an exciting appointment after his experience at former club Atletico Madrid.

According to Charles Watts, it now seems Berta is driving the Gunners’ growing interest in signing Gyokeres this summer.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Watts said that interest in Gyokeres has been there for some time, albeit not that strongly.

That now seems to have changed, with the Sweden international perhaps the preferred option for Berta as the club target a new signing up front for this summer.

Viktor Gyokeres could be a better striker signing than Benjamin Sesko for Arsenal

Viktor Gyokeres celebrates a goal for Sporting against Amarante (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

Watts can see why Berta may be steering Arsenal in this direction, as his personal view is also that Gyokeres would be a better option than someone like Benjamin Sesko, as well as being more realistic than Newcastle’s Alexander Isak.

“It was interesting to see the new links to Viktor Gyokeres this week following the appointment of Andrea Berta,” Watts said.

“Interest in Gyokeres has always been there, although it’s been relatively lukewarm of late. So it’s interesting that he appears now that interest appears to have heated up upon Berta’s arrival.

“We’ll have to see if it goes any further than that and I think it would certainly show Berta’s influence if it does, because it feels pretty clear that Mikel Arteta has perhaps had other targets in mind.

“We know that his dream signing would be Alexander Isak, but that feels totally unrealistic to me and the last thing Arsenal need this summer would be a prolonged chase for a target who they are very unlikely to get.

“So Arteta might need some convincing when it comes to focusing on other targets and Berta will obviously play a big part in that.

“He clearly likes Gyokeres given the previous links we’ve seen between the striker and Atletico Madrid, so it would make sense for him to now look to bring him to North London.

“From a personal point of view, I think I would prefer him to Benjamin Sesko.

“I like Sesko from what I’ve seen of him and I wouldn’t be disappointed if he does end up being the striker that Arsenal land, but I would have more confidence in Gyokeres hitting the ground running.

“I like how direct he is. It’s just all about scoring goals with him. Yes, there will be doubts over whether he could maintain the sort of form he has produced in Portugal in the Premier League, but I’m confident he would score goals over here.”