Eighteen months ago Viktor Gyökeres was the centre forward Arsenal had been chasing for two windows. In November 2026 he is the centre forward Arsenal are no longer sure they need.
The 28-year-old Swede is prepared to leave the Emirates in the January window after growing frustrated with his role under Mikel Arteta, according to TEAMtalk, which broke the story in October. The report, picked up by Goal and others, names two drivers: a near-complete absence of Premier League starts, and Arsenal’s ongoing pursuit of Julián Álvarez, which has unsettled Gyökeres about his place in Arteta’s longer plan.
Arsenal signed Gyökeres from Sporting CP in the summer of 2025 for a reported £63.5m, a five-year deal and a club-record outlay, according to TNT Sports.
21 goals last season, no start yet this one
The frustration is about minutes, not form. Gyökeres finished his first Arsenal season with 21 goals across all competitions and was a central figure as the club ended a long title drought and reached the Champions League final. This season Kai Havertz is Arteta’s preferred number nine, and Gyökeres is yet to start a Premier League match, according to Goal.
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His sharpness in a Sweden shirt has not dropped off, though. He scored four goals across the October international break in the Nations League, a reminder of the forward Arsenal outbid the rest of Europe for in 2025. He also scored and assisted in Arsenal’s 2-1 Champions League win over Slavia Prague on 4 November.
Álvarez is the deeper problem
Pay cuts and rotation he can accept. A long-term successor is a different matter. Arsenal spent a chunk of the summer window in talks over Álvarez, who favoured a move to Barcelona that ultimately fell through, and the club remain, per TEAMtalk, “hugely keen” on bringing the Atlético Madrid forward to north London. For a striker who already feels behind Havertz in the rotation, that pursuit looks less like insurance and more like a replacement plan.
Atlético Madrid themselves are monitoring Gyökeres’s situation, with further interest flagged from unnamed clubs in the Premier League, Serie A and the Bundesliga. No offers have been reported.
Arteta’s choice, and the warning from a former striker
Arsenal’s hierarchy would reportedly consider a mid-season sale if it helps fund another forward. That is the part of the story former Arsenal striker Jérémie Aliadière wants Arteta to think twice about.
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Aliadière told Metro the decision hinges on what Arsenal can bank and who they can bring in, via CaughtOffside.
“I think it’s all depending on the finances how much they can get for him and who to replace him with,” Aliadière said.
He also pointed to the risk of leaving Arsenal a Havertz injury away from an empty centre-forward slot.
“If Havertz gets injured, which obviously we’ve seen in the past, he’s had a few injuries and he can pick up injuries, you just end up with no striker at all,” he told Metro.
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The January window opens on 1 January.
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