Arsenal are closing in on the signing of Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres.
The Gunners have been working tirelessly to officially make their top striker target a member of Mikel Arteta's squad. Sporting director Andrea Bertahas been key in the operation, as he quickly reached a club-to-club agreement once talks accelerated last month.
football.london understands Arsenal are set to pay €63.5million (£55m) plus €10m (£8.7m) in add-ons. Meanwhile, Gyokeres has still been forced to wait because both clubs were yet to come to a full settlement over exactly how those add-ons would be structured.
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Arteta's side are in Asia for pre-season, so Gyokeres would follow on if he is to make his unofficial debut either against Newcastle United or Tottenham Hotspur.
And The Athletic reports that Gyokeres is set to follow in the footsteps of club legend Thierry Henry at Arsenal. The No.14 shirt has been unclaimed since Eddie Nketiah's £30m transfer to Crystal Palace last summer, and it is believed that Gyokeres will be the next to don it. This information won't be officially confirmed until Arsenal announce the signing.
There was some speculation about which squad number the Swedish international would select, as his previous numbers are already taken at Arsenal. At Sporting, where he netted 97 goals over two seasons, he wore the No. 9 shirt, currently occupied by Gabriel Jesus at Arsenal. His former No.17 from his time at Coventry City is now worn by Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Interestingly, the coveted No. 10 shirt has been available since Emile Smith Rowe's departure a year ago. However, it appears that Gyokeres has opted for Henry's old number.
With that said, below is a list of every No.14 in the club's history, courtesy of Transfermarkt .
Eddie Nketiah (21/22 - 24/25), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (17/18 - 21/22), Theo Walcott (08/09 - 17/18), Thierry Henry (99/00 - 06/07), David Hillier (94/95), Paul Davis (94/95), Martin Keown (93/94 - 98/99), Eddie McGoldrick (93/94 - 94/95), Mark Flatts (92/93), Colin Pates (92/93), Alan Smith (91/92 - 92/93), Neil Heaney (91/92 - 92/93), Ray Parlour (91/92), Jimmy Carter (91/92), David Hillier (91/92), Anders Limpar (91/92), Paul Davis (91/92 - 92/93), Michael Thomas (91/92), Perry Groves (90/91 - 91/92), David O'Leary (90/91), Kevin Campbell (89/90 - 91/92), Sigurdur Jónsson (89/90), Paul Merson (89/90), Martin Hayes (87/88 - 88/89), Gus Caesar (87/88), Michael Thomas (86/87), Graham Rix (86/87), John Kosmina (78/79)
