Arsenal plan for Viktor Gyokeres pre-season

Arsenal have plans in place to get Viktor Gyokeres involved in their pre-season tour as soon as possible, according to Charles Watts.

The Gunners finally look to be closing in on landing the Sweden international from Sporting Lisbon, in a deal that will surely excite plenty of the club’s fans.

Gyokeres has an impressively prolific record from his time at Sporting, even if it’s hard to know how such a strong scoring record in Portugal will translate to English football.

Still, hopefully Arsenal fans will get a close look at Gyokeres soon, with Watts explaining that the north London giants have plans in place to get the 27-year-old involved in their pre-season tour ASAP.

Charles Watts on Viktor Gyokeres’ transfer to Arsenal

Discussing the latest details of the Gyokeres deal in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, Watts said: “We are finally reaching the end of the Viktor Gyokeres saga.

“Arsenal and Sporting are now in agreement over the exact terms of the deal, with Arsenal set to pay €63.5 million and a further €10m in add-ons for the Sweden striker.

“That agreement had been in place for a while between the two clubs, with the sticking point centred round how exactly those add-ons would be reached.

“A compromise was finally agreed on Tuesday, with Gyokeres expected to soon undergo a medical before completing his move to Arsenal.

“There have been suggestions that medical will take place in Singapore where Arsenal are currently based for their pre-season tour of Asia.”

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Watts added: “I’m unable to confirm whether that is correct at this stage, but I know the club have been putting plans in place to ensure Gyokeres could join up with the squad as quickly as possible if an agreement was reached with Sporting.

“They were always hopeful he would be able to play some part in the tour and have been preparing for this exact eventuality, so I’m fully expecting him to link up with the squad before they fly home.

“He obviously won’t feature against Milan in Arsenal’s first game and the Newcastle match on Sunday could be a push. But I’ve been told Arsenal have always hoped he could be available for the Hong Kong part of the tour and that does feel realistic at this stage.”