Mikel Arteta will be hoping that Andrea Berta brings in an established striker in the summer who can take his Arsenal side to the next level.
The Italian sporting director has been hard at work behind the scenes, with Berta doing all he can to sign Viktor Gyokeres.
However, Manchester United are ready to sign Gyokeres and reunite him with Ruben Amorim as well.
In the event that Arsenal are unable to persuade the Swedish goalscorer to make a move to the Emirates Stadium, it would be best for the recruits to have alternatives on their transfer shortlist.
Arsenal target Joao Pedro set to leave Brighton in the summer
Alexander Isak is Mikel Arteta’s dream striker while Joao Pedro is another one of the Premier League’s big-hitters who has been linked with a move to the Gunners.
Arsenal have been eyeing Brighton’s Pedro for a while alongside the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool — with the Brazilian cementing his reputation as one of the English top-flight’s best number nines.
Fabrizio Romano has now revealed that the Gunners target is prepared to leave Brighton at the end of the season.
Romano has also claimed that Arsenal target Pedro could be available for a fee of €70 million (£59 million) in the summer.
However, Brighton will ultimately decide whether they wish to part ways with the former Watford forward, who recently had an “altercation” with teammate Jean Paul van Hecke in training, as per The Athletic.
How Joao Pedro compares to Viktor Gyokeres
On the striker front, it looks likely that Gyokeres could sign for Arsenal.
However, Benjamin Sesko is on Arsenal’s radar as well.
But in case Andrea Berta decides to seriously pursue Pedro’s signature, his team will analyse the Seagulls attacker’s stats in comparison to Gyokeres’.
| STATS PER 90 | JOAO PEDRO | VIKTOR GYOKERES |
| SHOTS | 1.94 | 4.08 |
| NON-PENALTY XG | 0.23 | 0.87 |
| NON-PENALTY GOALS | 0.23 | 0.69 |
| SHOT-CREATING ACTIONS | 3.33 | 4.94 |
| PROGRESSIVE CARRIES | 3.05 | 4.27 |
| SUCCESSFUL TAKE-ONS | 1.34 | 1.93 |
While the Sporting CP frontman has the edge over Pedro, perhaps Arsenal could consider the possibility of signing the latter as a backup striker.
Considering the 23-year-old is extremely versatile and can play behind the number nine and out wide as well, he would prove to be a very useful squad player for Mikel Arteta.
Pedro’s profile is comparable to that of Gabriel Jesus, who Arsenal are keen to sell.
