It looks like Viktor Gyokeres is Andrea Berta’s striker of choice.
Mikel Arteta would be happy to discover that Berta is wasting no time in addressing the Gunners’ need for a centre-forward and is ready to make a move for one of the best goalscorers in Europe.
With a swoop for Alexander Isak deemed potentially unrealistic by journalist David Ornstein, Andrea Berta has taken the wise decision of moving on quickly and trying to wrap up a move for Viktor Gyokeres.
Gyokeres could be available for £55 million this summer, which would be a snip for one of the continent’s most in-form number nines. Arsenal were not prioritising Gyokeres’ signing a few months ago but things seemed to have done a complete 180.
But another signing that Arsenal could make but in theory for the time being is that of Xavi Simons.
Andrea Berta should sign both Viktor Gyokeres and Xavi Simons at Arsenal
If Simons catches Andrea Berta’s eye, he would be aware that journalist Philipp Hinze reported two weeks ago that the Dutchman’s “departure is possible” and RB Leipzig’s asking price is €80 million (£66.9 million).
As Berta is trying to facilitate Gyokeres’ potential move to Arsenal, he should also be trying to sign Xavi Simons — who could turn the Swedish international into a smash hit at the Emirates Stadium.
Firstly, Simons has shown signs of growing into a world-class creator — having provided 14 and 11 assists in the last two seasons despite only being 21 — a trait that no Arsenal player has apart from Bukayo Saka.
Martin Odegaard has a final ball in him but ultimately, he has only had one campaign (2023/2024 season) where he registered 10 or more assists and the RB Leipzig technician could be the ideal partner for him — having plenty of experience of playing as a left-sided attacking midfielder.
While Gyokeres is Mikel Arteta’s ideal striker in terms of being a focal point, he might suffer the same struggles as Kai Havertz in terms of not having many creator to feed off of at Arsenal.
Furthermore, where the Sporting CP number nine especially thrived was when Pedro Goncalves played in close proximity to him — with the pair playing slick one-twos in tight pockets of space — which benefited both players as they could run in behind defences and score goals.
While Odegaard is especially an expert in causing mayhem in small spaces, where the Norwegian international is not as proficient as Simons, who Kylian Mbappe lauded is in terms of being a goalscorer — who has scored 40 goals in his last three seasons while the former Real Madrid playmaker has bagged 31.
| SEASON | MARTIN ODEGAARD’S TOTAL GOALS | XAVI SIMONS’ TOTALS GOALS |
| 2022/2023 | 15 | 23 |
| 2023/2024 | 8 | 10 |
| 2024/2025 | 6 | 8 |
- READ MORE: Martin Odegaard says he would absolutely love to sign £38m Real Madrid player for Arsenal
What Viktor Gyokeres gets “anxious” about that Xavi Simons could solve
Arsenal contacted Simons to sign him last year and if Andrea Berta re-ignites the club’s interest in the summer while also snapping Gyokeres up, he could pull off a summer transfer window for the ages.
In an interview with A Bola in December, Goncalves revealed that the former Coventry City marksman is prone to nervousness if he has not scored a goal: “On the field, you feel that sometimes he gets very anxious because he hasn’t scored his goal yet and he has to score his goal every game, he gets very anxious about that, but with time it gets better.”
But if paired with Simons, Gyokeres could score and create plenty of goals — which is another reason why a potential partnership between the two could work like a charm.
