Viktor Gyokeres to take iconic Arsenal shirt number as £63.7m transfer finally agreed

Viktor Gyokeres will be stepping into the shoes of Thierry Henry when he completes his Arsenal transfer. After weeks of negotiations, Sporting Lisbon and Arsenal have finally agreed a deal over the striker, who will undergo a medical on Saturday.

Gyokeres is joining the Gunners for £55million plus £8.7m in add-ons, having agreed a five-year deal with Mikel Arteta ’s side. He will become the centre-forward the team has craved during their three successive second-place finishes in the Premier League.

It has been 12 days since the two clubs struck an agreement over the top line transfer figure, but talks have continued over the structure of the deal. Finally, everything is in place and Gyokeres has already picked his shirt number.

The 27-year-old is used to talisman status, having worn the No.9 shirt and scored 54 goals in 52 games for Sporting last season as they won the domestic double. And he certainly doesn’t appear worried about the expectations on his shoulders in north London having selected the No.14 shirt at his new club.

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That number last belonged to Eddie Nketiah, who joined Crystal Palace in a deal worth a potential £30m last summer. It has been empty since then, having previously belonged to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Theo Walcott.

Undoubtedly, though, the shirt is most associated with Henry, who had No.14 on his back for the entirety of his eight years at Arsenal, from 1999 to 2007. The Frenchman scored 228 goals in all competitions for the Gunners and is widely regarded as the best player in the club’s history, having helped them win two Premier League titles and three FA Cups under Arsene Wenger.

Once he has completed his medical, Gyokeres - who has only ever previously worn No.14 during a loan spell at Swansea in 2020/21 - is due to fly out to Singapore to join up with his new team-mates. But intriguingly, his competitive debut for Arsenal is likely to come against Manchester United at the start of the Premier League season on August 17, which is Henry’s birthday.

No.14 has also previously been worn by Arsenal stalwarts like Ray Parlour and Martin Keown, as well as Kevin Campbell, Perry Groves, David O’Leary and Anders Limpar. Fellow Swede Limpar knows Gyokeres well from their time together at Brommapojkarna when he was younger and is convinced he will be a hit.

“I know that pretty much all the Arsenal players are top professionals,” he told fotbolldirekt.se. “I've been to the training ground, spoken to Arteta. He's Mr 100 per cent professional. And that's what you get from Viktor.

“He's such a prospect when it comes to looking after himself, no scandals, he is a hell of a player. He's a No.9, and can sniff a goal chance. He's going to be the perfect icing on the cake at Arsenal.

“And I don't have to look down on [Kai] Havertz, or [Gabriel] Jesus. But bringing in Viktor at this moment, at his best age and form. He's a goalscoring machine and with all the supply from the wings and from [Martin] Odegaard, he's going to score 25 goals.”

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