Arsenal are the club “most interested” in paying a fee “close to” Viktor Gyokeres’s €100m (£83m) release clause, according to Calciomercato.com reporter Daniele Longo.

The Swedish international scored a hat-trick as his Sporting Lisbon side thrashed Manchester City 4-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.

Gyokeres has been linked with joining Ruben Amorim at Manchester United but that transfer is deemed “unlikely”, especially during the January transfer window.

Longo also said that there is no prospect of an Italian club, such as AC Milan, making a move for the ex-Coventry City striker either, leaving the way clear for the Gunners.

Gyokeres’s goalscoring record since joining Sporting

After signing for €20m in the summer of 2023, the 26-year-old has gone on to score 66 goals in 67 appearances for the Portuguese champions.

Gyokeres is not only a goalscorer either, having also provided 19 assists during that time. It means he averages a goal contribution every 0.79 matches.

Of course, you do have to caveat those statistics by pointing out he is playing in Portugal but he is no stranger to English football, having spent 5 and a half years at Brighton and Coventry.

Can Arsenal afford to buy him in January?

Considering the Gunners’ struggles in the final third of the pitch, many supporters will be hoping that the club will spend big on a new No.9 in the next transfer window.

Due to the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules, though, it remains to be seen if that is viable. Sporting are said to be determined to keep Gyokeres until the summer at the very least so they may tell clubs to pay his release clause in full.

However, there are suggestions that they could lower their demands at the end of the season, and that could give Arsenal an opening to secure his signature.

Find out who is in Arsenal’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here