Viktor Gyokeres: Premier League giants push aside Osimhen to focus on Sweden hitman

Viktor Gyokeres is one of the hottest transfer properties in football at present, and new competition has been announced in the race to sign the Sporting CP hitman.

Arsenal have long had an interest in Gyokeres, but they face renewed competition from Chelsea for the 26-year-old, according to Fijaches, which reports that the Stamford Bridge club have made a “strong entrance” into the bidding.

There were previously reports that Chelsea wanted Gyokeres at the end of the summer transfer market as an alternative to Victor Osimhen, yet it was for the Nigeria international they put most of their efforts in, coming up short as they could not agree wages with the Napoli striker.

Osimhen, for the moment, has made it clear that he will remain on loan at Galatasaray from the Serie A club until the end of the season, and consequently Chelsea have kickstarted their interest in Sweden star.

Equally, any deal for Gyokeres may need to wait until the summer. Ruben Amorim, while still Sporting CP head coach, indicated that the player will only depart the Lisbon side at the end of the current campaign.

FootballTransfers understands that Arsenal are still interested in the forward, even if they are desperate for a January reinforcement in attack, with Brentford’s Yoane Wissa a name on their shortlist.

CONFIRMED: Viktor Gyokeres’ perfect transfer move

Bringing a new dimension to Chelsea

There still seems to be an appetite at Chelsea to strengthen in the No.9 role, despite Nicolas Jackson enjoying an excellent season at Stamford Bridge this season.

Remarkably, data analytics experts SciSports suggest that the Senegal international is now actually stronger than either of his two rivals that Chelsea are considering signing. A return of six Premier League goals in 11 games certainly suggests he is a player on the up, even if his figures are not as prolific as his rivals, who are both playing in weaker leagues.

Jackson’s development vs. Osimhen and Gyokeres

Gyokeres, however, offers a different profile to Jackson, in particular. He is more of a mobile striker, whereas the former Villarreal star plays primarily as a poacher. As such, he could offer Chelsea a different dimension to Enzo Maresca’s forward line.

Sporting put a €100 million release clause on his head last season, yet the latest reports indicate they have a gentleman’s agreement in place to allow Gyokeres to leave next summer for something like €70m.