Another injury in attack could finally tempt Arsenal into signing a new striker, with Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres being linked with a move to the Emirates.

A striker has been on Arsenal's wishlist for some time now, and with Gabriel Jesus joining the Gunners' injury list in the FA Cup defeat against Manchester United, the Gunners may look to add some depth in attack this January rather than waiting until the summer. With the Premier League and Champions League still up for grabs, now could be the perfect time for a new striker, with Sporting's Gyokeres reportedly a target for Mikel Arteta's side.

Since moving to Sporting from Coventry City in 2023, Gyokeres has scored 75 goals in 80 games for the Portuguese side, with 32 of them coming in 30 games this season. He's also proven a threat on the international stage, grabbing 13 goals and five assists in 15 games for Sweden across 2024.

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The 26-year-old has a release clause of €100 million (£83 million), but if Arsenal were to wait until the summer, Sporting could allow the Swede to depart for a lower fee. So, if Arsenal were to sign Gyokeres, how could he perform for Arteta's side? Let's take a look.

Rest of Arsenal's 2024/25 season simulated with Viktor Gyokeres

To set up this simulation, we used Football Manager 2024 to move Gyokeres to Arsenal in the January transfer window before simulating the rest of the 2024/25 season. This is how the Gunners performed with the Swede in their squad.

Arteta made Gyokeres his starting striker as soon as he signed for the club, with Kai Havertz dropping into midfield or coming on off the bench. Once the 26-year-old was in the squad, he became undroppable, making 24 appearances in his first six months at the club, with all of them starts.

In 24 games, Gyokeres scored 12 goals and grabbed one assist, ending the season as Arsenal's fourth-highest scorer, despite playing just half the season. Bukayo Saka impressed the most with 19 goals and 17 assists, while Havertz ended the campaign with 15 goals.
Like Gyokeres, Leandro Trossard also scored 12, while Gabriel hit double digits for goals in the simulation, grabbing 10 in total. Gyokeres also managed an average rating of 7.25 per game – better than Havertz's 7.21.

At the end of the 2024/25 season, Football Manager 2024 put together an overall best Arsenal XI, based on performances, statistics, and other metrics. This is what it looked like:

Full Arsenal best XI: (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Merino, Odegaard, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.

Gyokeres didn't make the Arsenal best XI, with Havertz starring up front after scoring more goals across the season for the Gunners. Despite not hitting double digits for goals, Gabriel Martinelli also made the best XI, with Trossard missing out.

Mikel Merino became a regular in the second half of the season as he joined Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard in midfield, while Ben White also made the best XI after impressing on his return from injury.

With Gyokeres in the side, Arsenal did improve during the second half of the season in the Premier League, but Liverpool didn't let their lead slip as they beat Arteta's side to the title by five points. Arsenal also failed to win the Champions League, with the Gunners losing 4-3 on aggregate to Inter in the semi-finals.