Andrea Berta Initiates Early Talks for Viktor Gyokeres and Nico Williams Over Potential Arsenal Moves

Arsenal’s new sporting director Andrea Berta is straight off to work a few days after the club confirms his appointment and has now held talks with the entourage of two players, Viktor Gyokeres and Nico Williams over a summer move to the club.

The Gunners have been linked with Spanish winger Nico Williams and a striker, with Gyokeres amongst a list of potential signings that include Swedish teammate Alexander Isak as well as RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko.

Reports emerged earlier in the week that Berta has singled out Viktor Gyokeres amongst other options as the club’s primary striker target in the summer, albeit it is also reported that Mikel Arteta is more of an Isak fan, but the club do realize how a deal could be almost impossible with Newcastle United.

Although these moves are also intended to ensure that the Gunners have comparative advantage over other suitors as well as to get themselves involved with as many options as possible, to maintain control over these deals when negotiations start in full flow.

Andrea Berta Kickoff With Gyokeres and Williams Chase

Gyokeres has been an absolute goal machine since his move to Sporting CP in the summer of 2023. With 87 goals and 24 assists across all competitions, he has amassed 111 goal involvement in 95 games, the most of any player in Europe top 10 leagues in that period.

The 26-year-old has a release clause of €100 million on a contract that runs until the summer of 2028. Even though the amount will not be match, Sporting will likely not do business for anything much less than that amount.

The Portuguese club has also granted Arsenal the go-ahead to start talks with the representatives of the Swedish international, with Mikel Arteta’s relationship with his agent Hasan Çetinkaya being a key factor.

Nico Williams on the other side may be a much difficult deal to get done because of his preference of a move to Barcelona – yet, the Blaugrana’s financial mishap could influence the winger’s decision.

Nico Williams, who said no to a move to Barcelona last summer, has a release clause of €58 million with Athletic Club, and if this considerably cheap sum is activated on the player’s consent, then the club will have no choice than to accept the move.

A more challenging task will be negotiating a payment that does not upset their wage structure with Nico, who is already earning a substantial sum at Athletic Club – he’d require lucrative deal than most clubs would expect of a 22-year-old.

Unlike Nico, Gyokeres prefers a move to Arsenal over Manchester United, who are currently being linked with the player. The Gunners can be more confident of they do intend to make him their main striker target in the summer, since they’ve also created a perfect environment for a striker to thrive.

Adding these duo to the Arsenal attack in the early days of the transfer window will be a massive statement, while the club works on departures and reinforce their midfield.

Martin Zubimendi is a player on their radar, and reports suggest the club is making progress in convincing the Spaniard to join, although recent interest from Real Madrid and his preference of the European giant could complicate things.

Andrea Berta will have a tough job getting these deals done if the club do intend to pursue them, because these are players who will attract interest from other top clubs in the summer.

Yet, recording success will only enrich his reputation, and makes him more endearing to the fans in the early period of their association.

Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi