Liverpool deliver huge Arsenal blow as Reds ready to meet asking price for top Gunners target

Liverpool are reportedly ready to meet Sporting Lisbon’s asking price for Viktor Gyokeres in a huge blow to Arsenal.

The Sweden international enjoyed a remarkable debut season at Sporting following his £17m move from Championship outfit Coventry City, contributing 43 goals and 15 assists in his 50 appearances across all competitions.

His displays have caught the eye of the European elite and a reprot earlier this week claimed Arsenal have made him their top striker target.

There is a €100m (£86m) release clause in Gyokeres’ contract, but Arsenal are attempting to sign him for a much lower fee .

The report claimed Arsenal are ‘prepared to bid’ for Gyokeres, but there is said to still be a ‘gap in valuation’.

The Gunners are said to be ‘willing to pay roughly €60 million (£52m) for Gyokeres, while Sporting Lisbon ‘want at least’ €70m (£60m) this summer.

‘We are told that the Sporting CP sharpshooter still tops the Gunners’ shortlist of striker options, though a sizeable gap in valuation remains.

‘Sporting are no longer holding out for the Swede’s €100m release clause to be paid in full, but they still want at least around €70m (£60m).

‘Arsenal have no intention to match Gyokeres’ release clause, so the fact that Sporting are open to club-to-club negotiations is a [boost].

‘That said, there has so far been no concrete movement towards opening formal talks due to Arsenal’s focus on Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino.’

Sporting’s willingess to negotiate is indeed good news for Arsenal, but reports in Portugal now claim Liverpool are prepared to blow them out of the water.

It’s thought the Reds are ready to meet Sporting’s €70m valuation for their prized asset to beat the Gunners to the punch and are now confident of a deal.

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It would be the second blow Liverpool have delivered Arsenal this week after Arne Slot’s side triumphed over the Gunners in their pre-season friendly on Thursday.

Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho scored two early goals as the Reds won 2-1 with Arsenal getting a goal back through Kai Havertz before half-time.

Liverpool boss Slot was just pleased to win the match after admitting that Arsenal “dominated possession completely” in the second half.

Slot said after the match : “I think even though it’s a friendly, you always want to aim for a win. You should aim for a win even if you have a small-sided game during a training session. You need to win your games, you try to do everything to win.

“So that’s a good thing that we did that today but I’m more pleased about the way we did so. Of course I saw the second half that we had a hard time with Arsenal – they dominated possession completely.

“But we defended really well and I was really pleased to see this because [there were] a lot of bodies behind the ball every time they arrived into our 16. Real big, open chances I don’t think they created in the second half.

“First half, after the first 10 minutes, it was an equal game, where both teams could have scored a few goals more. So, [I’m] pleased to see how we played the first half and how we defended the second half.”