It was another campaign of coming close but falling short for Arsenal again last year. They almost toppled Manchester City from atop their Premier League throne and ended their two-decade title drought, but ultimately finished second for the second successive year.
That said, there was still plenty to be proud of for the North Londoners, and overall, it was a year of progress for many stars in Mikel Arteta’s squad, including club captain Martin Odegaard.
The Norwegian showed he was a composed and effective leader for his team, but he could have been so much more with a prolific striker ahead of him gobbling up the countless chances he created.
Fortunately for the former Real Madrid wonderkid, recent reports have placed Arsenal at the front of the queue for one of Europe’s most exciting strikers.
According to a recent report from Football Transfers, Arsenal have maintained their interest in Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres and have just been handed a massive boost in their pursuit of him.
The report claims that Napoli have pulled out of the race for the Swedish poacher, and only the Gunners and cross-city rivals Chelsea remain in the hunt for his signature.
The former Coventry City ace has a €100m – £84m – release clause in his contract, but both London sides will look to sign him for less than that, and while both clubs would be attractive destinations, the fact the North Londoners have Champions League football to play next season should see them have a slight advantage.
In all, even at a slightly lower fee and with their advantage over Chelsea, it could prove challenging to sign Gyokeres, but if Arsenal want to finally lift that Premier League trophy next season, then bringing the Swede to N5 would be a great way to make that happen – and his partnership with Odegaard would be unreal.
Why Gyokeres would be a brilliant teammate for Odegaard
Now, the primary reason that Gyokeres would be such a transformational teammate for Odegaard is a rather straightforward one: his output.
In just 50 appearances last season, he scored a staggering 43 goals and provided 15 assists. The season prior, while he wasn’t quite as incredible, he still scored 22 goals and provided 12 assists in 50 games.
This means that over two years, the Stockholm-born phenom has averaged a goal involvement every 1.08 games, a level of return that is frankly super-human.
