Archive July 6, 2025

Arsenal are in talks to sign Sporting’s prolific Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres for £70m.

As first revealed by BBC Sport on Thursday, Arsenal have had a clear focus on completing a deal for the 27-year-old in recent days and the club are now advancing in their pursuit of the forward.

Discussions over personal terms for Gyokeres and with the Lisbon club over a transfer fee are accelerating, with Arsenal’s sporting director Andrea Berta leading negotiations.

A deal has not been finalised though, and there remains a degree of caution at Arsenal until agreements are reached.

Gyokeres has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League after scoring 97 goals in 102 matches during two seasons in Portugal.

The Gunners completed the £60m signing of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Sami Mokbel, senior football correspondent

It appears Viktor Gyokeres will be the man Mikel Arteta will rely on to make the difference next season.

Arsenal’s critics are adamant the club’s title challenge foundered last season because of their lack of an elite forward.

If Gyokeres arrives, they are recruiting a striker who has scored prolifically in the Portuguese top flight.

The obvious question is how that goalscoring ability translate into the Premier League. If all things go according to plan, we are about to find out.

Gyokeres made his professional debut in 2015 in his native Sweden for IF Brommapojkarna.

By September 2017, he had caught the eye of newly promoted Premier League side Brighton and agreed a two-year contract with the Seagulls, officially joining the following January.

While still playing for Brighton’s youth team, he made his debut for Sweden in January 2019 in a defeat to Finland. He scored his first international goal three days later in a 2-2 draw with Iceland.

However he still struggled for opportunities with Brighton and was sent on loan to German second-tier side St Pauli for the 2019-20 season.

It was at the Hamburg club where he began to thrive, scoring seven goals in 26 appearances.

A month into the following season, Gyokeres scored his first, and only, Brighton goal – finding the net in a 4–0 League Cup victory over Portsmouth.

Nevertheless, weeks later he was loaned to Championship side Swansea City.

He played 12 times and managed one goal for the Swans during three months in Wales before being recalled by Brighton and sent on loan to Coventry City in January 2021.

Gyokeres scored three goals in the second half of the season, including his first league goal in English football, and made his move permanent that summer at the age of 23.

During the next two seasons, he would become one of the most prolific strikers in the Championship.

In 116 appearances for the Sky Blues he scored 43 goals and helped Coventry to a FA Cup semi-final in 2023, where they lost on penalties to Manchester United.

In the same season, he was named in the Championship team of the year as Coventry reached the play-off final, but were beaten on penalties again – this time by Luton Town.

That summer he moved to Portugal, signing for Sporting for about £20m.

England manager Sarina Wiegman said she had “no regrets” with her starting 4-2-3-1 formation in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against France in their Euro 2025 opener.

She has some big decisions to make as the Lionesses return to action against the Netherlands on Wednesday (17:00 BST), when they will need a much-improved performance to make their mark on Group D.

“I don’t know yet,” Wiegman said when asked if she will change formation against her former side.

“I make a lot of considerations before I make a starting line-up. Sometimes things go well, sometimes it doesn’t go well – but I don’t have regrets. We try to turn every stone before we make the line-up. “

Who should start for the Lionesses in what Beth Mead and Grace Clinton described as a “must-win” game on Wednesday?

England were overloaded in midfield with Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh unable to contain wave after wave of France attacks.

Grace Clinton’s introduction in the 77th minute, replacing Stanway, gave the Lionesses a different look in the middle of the park with the Manchester United midfielder providing some much-needed energy.

Lauren James started for England against France, as she continues her return from a hamstring injury sustained in April, and she played in the number 10 role before going off on the hour mark.

However, her free role sometimes left England exposed in midfield and they looked more secure when Ella Toone replaced her.

“If I was picking the team I definitely would have had Clinton in from the start,” former England midfielder Izzy Christiansen told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“We know the talent of Lauren James but I’d have had it the other way. Start Clinton, bring James on to make an impact. “

Another position to consider is left-back, where Jess Carter was exposed numerous times by France’s attackers before Niamh Charles replaced her for the final 30 minutes.

Charles could provide a better option to deal with the pace of Netherlands forward Lineth Beerensteyn as well as captain Vivianne Miedema, both key attacking threats.

Captain Leah Williamson said there are “different places available and different opposition”, but should Wiegman stick or twist?

Look at the squad list below and pick the XI you want to start in Zurich.

Former England wing Chris Ashton believes that “tripping things back” and adopting a more straightforward style of play would benefit the British and Irish Lions.

In their unconvincing 21-10 victory over the New South Wales Waratahs on Saturday, the Lions committed nine unforced errors.

The intricate system of intricate pre-rehearsed moves that have been so effective with Ireland has not yet been fully integrated by head coach Andy Farrell.

“It was a shit. After the 2025 Lions’ fourth match, Ashton said, “If that was their first game, OK.”

Why didn’t the Lions restore the world? Why not just play the Waratahs with absolute simplicity when there were so many changes and games?

15 Irishmen made up his first touring team, which won back-to-back Six Nations titles while playing in this manner with Ireland.

However, the Lions’ attack is still plagued by handling errors, and Irish players who are familiar with Farrell’s system have struggled to connect with their new team-mates from other nations.

Warren Gatland, the previous champion Lions’ tour leader, started 10 of Wales’ Test matches with a series lead of 1-1.

Ashton, who narrowly missed being chosen for that tour, said, “Gatland played it simple and had a large Welsh contingent that he coached and trusted.

Because you have a relationship and a game plan in place, it seems easier to put into action right now.

Farrell’s selection for Wednesday’s game against the Brumbies will be intriguing.

It has been suggested that the Lions should include the majority of his Test team in order to foster cohesion because it will appear to be their toughest game outside of their matches against the Wallabies.

For the first time since beating the Waratahs, he combined Scotland’s Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones in midfield.

Jones scored two tries, the first of which was set up by his team-mate from Glasgow Warriors.

Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose are currently unavailable for a tour in Ireland, but Ashton believes they have a clear advantage over the Scotland pair.

The former Saracens wing claimed that Boudundee Aki had been excellent.

“That 12-13 axis playing together, knowing how each other run lines, is a lot to be praised.

The trio, who are touring with the Lions, are Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, and James Lowe, who won every game of Ireland’s 2023 Grand Slam-winning campaign.

Although the England wing Tommy Freeman has been the best back-three player in Australia so far, Ashton claims that he should start his first Test against them.

Ashton continued, “Freeman is carrying all over the pitch and scoring tries, only he is doing that this tour while playing on the wings,”

As they use his carrying, he is striking lines in the middle of the pitch.

He also has a little more size and pace than Hansen, according to the report.

After struggling to impose himself on his Lions debut on Saturday, Keenan, who made his first game in more than a month, had to make a call to make the full-back selection.

Blair Kinghorn, a full-back for Scotland, started on the wing against the Waratahs and struggled to show off his attacking prowess on his Lions debut.

After starting in Toulouse’s Top 14 semi-final and final on the left wing, the 28-year-old joined the tour late, leaving only two games before the first Test in the number 15 shirt.

Ashton stated that “the full-back Test spot is available.”

Kinghorn’s lack of full-back experience requires some adjustment because he hasn’t played it since.