Arsenal signed Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon for around £64m last weekend, and Mikel Arteta’s biggest issue has been solved.

97 goals and 28 assists across just 102 appearances for Os Leões is no small feat, and while the inevitable detractors will point toward the lower quality in the Liga Portugal than the Premier League will present him with, you need only look at his exploits in last year’s Champions League, with Manchester City falling to the Swedish striker’s sublime hat-trick.

Now that the 27-year-old is ready to link up with his new squad for pre-season training, Arteta and technical director Andrea Berta are ready to complete a summer of healthy spending with a creative player.

Bukayo Saka is one of the best wingers in the world and won’t be relinquishing his right-sided berth any time soon, but with Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli both expendable, so say The Athletic, a left-sided addition could be on the cards.

Arsenal's plans for a new winger

Someone like Rodrygo would be a welcome addition to the Emirates, and that’s selling it short. He’s been reported to be on the Emirates’ radar. But he’ll cost a pretty penny, the Brazilian.

Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon has also been linked, but £100m is laughable. Both players, it should be noted, are coming off six-goal league campaigns.

But there’s another who’s creeping closer to Arteta’s circle.

According to journalist Sebastien Vidal, Arsenal have reached an agreement in principle with Crystal Palace for the transfer of the 27-year-old Eberechi Eze, with the base layer of the financial package agreed.

Vidal claims the Gunners would pay £30m up front before meeting the remainder of the 27-year-old’s £68m release clause through instalments and clauses.

It’s starting to feel like Arsenal will get this one over the line, and it would be a stunning acquisition. Here’s why.

Why Arsenal want Eberechi Eze

Admittedly, Eze isn’t an out-and-out winger, for he has played plenty of football in the centre of the park, thrusting forward with those electric strides, those tricky feet which outfox the steeliest of opponents.

It was Eze who scored the winning goal as Oliver Glasner’s Eagles beat Manchester City to lift the FA Cup in May, and it was Eze who scored in dominant victories over Fulham and Aston Villa in the quarters and the semi-finals, respectively, to put Palace in a position to win their first major honour ever.

Glasner has preferred to use Eze centrally, and maybe Arteta will too, but the option for wide play is there. After all, he’s as fleet-footed as they come, ranked among the top 10% of Premier League attacking midfielders and wingers last term for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref.

High-speed running and slick skills could make him the perfect counterpoint to Saka on the right. And that, in turn, would allow Gyokeres to find his free-scoring form at the front of the ship.

Matches (starts)

25 (20)

34 (31)

Goals

6

8

Assists

10

8

Shots (on target)*

2.7 (0.9)

3.0 (0.9)

Touches*

43.8

46.6

Pass completion

84%

82%

Big chances created

21

11

Key passes

2.4

1.7

Dribbles*

1. 6

2.0

Ball recoveries*

2.8

4.3

Tackles + interceptions*

1.3

1.4

Duels won*

4.8

4.8

Would it be fair to say that Saka and the £100k-per-week Eze are tactically akin? Further, they are both physical machines, not brawny for the sake of muscle but athletic and strong and powerful on the ball.

But, most importantly, they are both creative as they come, and that could play right into Gyokeres’ hands (or, rather, his feet).

Gyokeres might be 27 and yet to test his skill in one of Europe’s top divisions, but as we have already discussed, he’s hardly untested against high-level opposition, hardly lacking the clinical shooting that surely would translate to the Premier League when flanked by the likes of Eze and Saka.

Both of these wide players are able to direct their playmaking prowess to a high volume with it risking the fluidity of their overall game. They are both complete in their performances, with Eze actually being described as a “magician” by pundit Micah Richards for his technical quality.

Let’s make it clearer still: as per Sofascore, Gyokeres scored 45 goals across his Liga Portugal (winning the division for the second successive season) and Champions League campaigns, and it has been recorded that he missed only 27 big chances.

Regarded as a “physical machine” by his former Coventry City coach Adi Viveash, you’d wager that this combination of pace, power and potency would be enough to prevent him from falling by the wayside in an Arsenal shirt, at the very least.

And that’s without considering the support that Eze and Saka would provide – though, luckily, we already have.

Eze, then, is a proven star across a number of years with Palace in the Premier League. Last season, he immortalised himself in south London by leading his team to the FA Cup trophy.

Is he not ready to make the leap into the upper echelon of English and European football? Would the Three Lions star not be refined at 27 and able to bring instant effects to Arteta’s project?

Clearly, the club’s Spanish tactician believes it is so. With Gyokeres at the focal point and Saka, while younger, at a level now where he plays with the silky grace and style of a seasoned veteran, there’s surely every chance that the Gunners will take that final leap forward over the coming year and get their mitts on one of the biggest prizes.

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