Fabrizio Romano shares ‘important’ update that could see Viktor Gyokeres finally join Arsenal

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Arsenal fans are now itching to see Viktor Gyokeres wearing club colours during pre-season.

Mikel Arteta has just flown a 30-man Arsenal squad to Singapore to begin the club’s tour of Asia.

On the flight, Arsenal only had two strikers: Kai Havertz and Andre Harriman-Annous — explaining why the Gunners are so keen to add Viktor Gyokeres as soon as possible.

Havertz will continue to be important for Arsenal this season, a player who is very well regarded by Arteta and his staff. 

But 17-year-old Hale End talent Harriman-Annous is yet to make a senior appearance under Arteta, even if he will benefit from being involved in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Sporting CP’s move for Luis Suarez could see Viktor Gyokeres join Arsenal

That being said, journalist Fabrizio Romano has now shared an ‘important’ update on his YouTube channel which could be good news for Arsenal’s pursuit of Gyokeres.

TBR Football recently shared that Gyokeres wants to join Arsenal as soon as possible — he’s frustrated by the delays.

And to that end, Sporting CP want to sign Luis Suarez from Almeria to replace Gyokeres this summer, and they’ve now made a breakthrough in that regard.

Sporting’s move doesn’t mean they will suddenly release Gyokeres to Arsenal, but it might possibly soften their stance when it comes to finalising a financial package for the deal.

Romano explained: “For Arsenal fans, there is an important news — it’s not directly about the Gyokeres story, but can be linked with the Gyokeres story.

READ MORE: Mikel Arteta makes interesting claim about Riccardo Calafiori after watching him in Arsenal’s pre-season

“Because tonight, Sporting made progress in negotiations with Almeria to sign the Colombian striker, Luis Javier Suarez.

“So if Sporting is closing this deal for Suarez, it probably means that things are advancing and accelerating for Gyokeres.

“My information on Gyokeres remains that the two clubs are in contact, that the agents are working on it.

“But let me say that first of all, Gyokeres is showing full commitment, he’s not being tempted by Saudi, not being tempted by intermediaries offering Manchester United, but fully focused on Arsenal with his agent, Hasan Cetinkaya, on the same page.

“But also, it’s important to say that Sporting are close to completing the deal for Luis Javier Suarez as new striker, expected to be done this week.

“So keep an eye on that one because it could be an important signal in this story.”

Mikel Merino will play a different role at Arsenal next season

Of course, Spain international Mikel Merino has travelled to Singapore for Arsenal’s pre-season tour, even if he is no longer listed as a striker.

Merino had an excellent goalscoring record as a number nine for Arsenal last term, but he will now return to a more familiar number eight role.

When he first signed for Arsenal from Real Sociedad, it was imagined that Merino would compete for the role long-vacated by Granit Xhaka on the left of Arteta’s midfield.

Incidentally, Xhaka might return to the Premier League this summer, but Arsenal do now have Declan Rice playing that role to perfection.

And unfortunately for Merino, he might be frustrated at times behind Rice, who is always going to be an automatic starter for Arteta in the biggest of games.

But it’s clear that Arsenal will have a lot stronger squad depth going into next season, and Merino will still be an important player in moments.