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Hello! The entire city of Newcastle came out to laud their Carabao Cup winners. Arsenal’s crowd might do the same if their new sporting director bags a certain Swedish striker.
(Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
On the way:
🔥 Arsenal hot on Gyokeres
🆚 LAFC’s CWC play-off
🟰 Mbappe matches CR7
🚰 Sels’ water-bottle tricks
Get Gyokeres? Berta starts as Arsenal’s sporting director and eyes turn to striker
(Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images)
No rest for the wicked, and none at all for Andrea Berta, the new sporting director at Arsenal. One day behind his desk at the Emirates Stadium and already he has a stonking transfer target to chase.
We’ll come back to Berta shortly, because he officially started work over the weekend and he’ll be a key figure for Arsenal going forward. But no sooner did the news about him break than it emerged that Viktor Gyokeres, the absurdly prolific Sporting CP goalscorer, has risen towards the top of the club’s wanted list.
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The surprise isn’t that Arsenal and Berta like Gyokeres. The surprise is that Sporting have been able to cling onto Gyokeres for two seasons straight, given his phenomenal output. I’ll let The Athletic’s Jack Lang paint it by numbers: 85 goals in 91 appearances for the Portuguese league leaders, 42 in 42 at club level this season, and 12 in 12 for Sweden, otherwise known as a goal every 76 minutes.
He’s a murderous finisher and at 26, is in his prime years. Watching him, I agree with Sporting head coach Rui Borges, who thinks Gyokeres “has it all”; a strong, quick, mobile attacker who is adept at finding the net with his right foot, his left foot and his head. Somewhere in Europe’s top-five leagues, a big move is waiting.
Could Arsenal be the one? Our transfer gurus think so, and the dots join together. Berta, according to this piece, has admired Gyokeres for a long time. Berta is also regarded by Arsenal as the last piece in the puzzle which takes them over the threshold to major silverware, the end of Mikel Arteta’s “five-step plan” as James McNicholas puts it. As first catches go, Gyokeres would be a shark.
What Berta will bring to Arsenal
Everything written about Berta, a 53-year-old Italian who was, until recently, a cog in the machine at Atletico Madrid, implies he will dovetail with Arteta, rather than dictating to Arsenal’s manager. Arteta has considerable power at the Emirates, and it won’t be shifting any time soon.
But satisfying a demanding first-team boss should be Berta’s bread and butter. He had Diego Simeone to contend with at Atletico (a coach who, this article reminded me, is the most highly-paid anywhere in world football) and the Spanish club’s track record over the past decade speaks for itself. For Arsenal, who had a vacancy to fill after parting company with Edu in November, a fresh perspective shouldn’t hurt in trying to crack the code of winning the Premier League.
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It was interesting to read that a few potential alternatives to Berta swerved the role on the basis that they would be Arteta’s equal, rather than senior to him. In the current climate, sporting directors are often even further up the food chain (Arteta was actually involved in choosing Berta). It was also striking to learn that Dan Ashworth went close to the job, considering how quickly he imploded as sporting director at Manchester United.
Whoever got the nod was guaranteed a specific challenge in their in-tray: to find the No 9 Arsenal have been soldiering on without for too long. Arteta likes Alexander Isak, but the Newcastle United wizard has a steep price tag. Arsenal have had eyes on RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko for a while, but interest in him is widespread. Something has to give in this summer’s window, surely — and based on the past 24 hours, Gyokeres might be their man.
News round-up
- Some major news lines dropped over the past few days, and none bigger than this: Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Junior, who was blatantly running out of road. His departure might clear the way for Carlo Ancelotti, which would be great fun.
- Canada and Jesse Marsch are under big pressure over the anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered by captain Alphonso Davies. On the back of Davies’ agent criticising their treatment of the left-back, Bayern Munich’s chief executive has accused Canada of “gross negligence”, and reserved the right to take legal action.
- Just to improve Bayern’s mood with the Champions League quarter-finals around the corner, Davies’ fellow defender Hiroki Ito has broken a foot. It was one of two big stories to come out of the Bundesliga this weekend, the other being RB Leipzig’s decision to sack coach Marco Rose. Within hours, Leipzig’s ex-assistant, Zsolt Low, was announced as his replacement.
- The controversial rescheduled La Liga fixture between Barcelona and Osasuna gets messier. Osasuna are appealing their 3-0 defeat last Thursday, claiming Barca breached FIFA regulations by fielding defender Inigo Martinez in the game.
- Liverpool’s owners at Fenway Sports Group have joined Paris Saint-Germain in eyeing up the purchase of Spanish second division side Malaga. A delegation was sent to give Malaga the once-over last month. It must be nice to be in demand.
- James Rodriguez is understandably miffed about his Club Leon’s expulsion from the Club World Cup. It sounds like a play-off between Mexico’s Club America and MLS’ LAFC will be FIFA’s way of reallocating Leon’s place.🎙️ You can hear from Jesse Marsch on a special edition of The Athletic FC Podcast, which focuses on the political infighting behind the 2026 World Cup. Marsch says he has been cautioned by countless people against crossing swords with U.S. President Donald Trump. Listen on Apple and Spotify.
Up for the cup: Rashford in the goals, Sels’ penalty tricks, Man City fight back
Nottingham Forest FC
The FA Cup operates in a permanent existential crisis — it’s never the priority for England’s top boys — but there’s been lots to like about it this season, helped by a lively quarter-final round. Here’s what went down:
- Marcus Rashford bagged his first goals in four months, with a brace in Aston Villa’s 3-0 win over Preston North End. He’s rediscovering his mojo somewhat out on loan and slotting in well enough to make me think Villa will activate a £40m ($52m) option to sign him permanently from Manchester United.
- I loved this from Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels. He had penalty tips written on his water bottle in anticipation of a shootout at Brighton (which came to pass, and which Forest edged courtesy of Sels’ two saves — check out his patience to wait for the rocket from Diego Gomez, above). Having memorised them so religiously, he simply used slurps from the bottle to delay Brighton’s takes and ramp up the tension. Canny.
- A maiden strike for England against Latvia on Monday, and now a goal and an assist as Crystal Palace spanked Fulham 3-0: it’s hardly a secret, but Eberechi Eze is a hot talent.
- Manchester City recovered from a goal down (and a missed Erling Haaland penalty) to beat Bournemouth 2-1 yesterday. If, after a fraught year, Pep Guardiola can get out of Dodge with an FA Cup and Champions League qualification, he’d take that all night long.
Mbappe = Ronaldo: Real Madrid striker matches goalscoring mark set by Portuguese
Premier Sports
Ancelotti’s Real Madrid are such a contradiction. They’re still in with a shout of three more trophies this season — La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey — but are getting jeered by their own fans. With 33 goals, Kylian Mbappe has matched Cristiano Ronaldo’s first season at the Bernabeu, but it hasn’t felt like a stellar year for Madrid’s new No 9.
Mbappe, incidentally, broke a duck in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Leganes, scoring from a free kick for the very first time in his career (hard to believe, but true). Our data crew tell me the finish above counts — despite him playing the set piece short before shooting. I’m not sure I’m having that, but I’m not brave enough to argue either.
Around TAFC
Catch a match
(Selected games, times ET/UK)
La Liga: Celta Vigo vs Las Palmas, 3pm/8pm — ESPN+, Fubo/Premier Sports.
Serie A: Hellas Verona vs Parma, 12.30pm/5.30pm — CBS, Paramount+, Amazon Prime/OneFootball; Lazio vs Torino, 2.45pm/7.45pm — CBS, Paramount+, Amazon Prime/TNT Sports, OneFootball.
And finally…
Dunfermline FC
Dunfermline, of the Scottish Championship (the second tier), average attendance circa 5,000, thought they’d pulled off a coup last week when they signed Victor Wanyama, formerly of Celtic, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and CF Montreal.
The 33-year-old, accomplished midfielder that he is, must have thought he’d go north and smoke cigars on a deck chair. But then came his debut on Saturday: a 3-0 defeat to Ayr United, ending with a red card for a handball so deliberate it was probably worth two (above). And they say it’s a good thing to step out of your comfort zone.
(Top photo: Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
