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Arsenal's new signing Viktor Gyokeres has struck a chord among the fans of the club even before touching the ball on the pitch. The Swedish striker signed for the Gunners in a deal worth around 63.5 million euros from Sporting Lisbon after setting the Portuguese league on fire with his goal-scoring exploits last season. Gyokeres was on the radar of a number of top clubs, including Manchester United, but decided to join Arsenal.
Gyokeres has instantly hit popularity among the Arsenal fan base, who have huge expectations from the striker next season and are elated by his arrival. The excitement can be measured by the fact that Gyokeres' shirt sales have broken Arsenal's previous record for most shirt sales by a new signing. The 27-year-old shirt is in insane demand on Arsenal's official website and retail stores.
As per a report in The Athletic, the data from various outlets and retailers are still being analysed, but the sales of Gyokeres' no.14 shirt have surpassed that of any new signing in club's recent history. The Swedish striker completed his move to Arsenal from Sporting on July 26 and has joined the club's ongoing pre-season tour of Asia.
Gyokeres initially wanted to wear the no.9 shirt at Arsenal, however, he decided to take the iconic no.14 shirt worn by club legend Thierry Henry, as no.9 is worn by his teammate Gabriel Jesus. The record sales have been driven by Arsenal's offer to the fans to print Gyokeres' name on any of the club's new season shirts for free
On a normal day, it would have cost fans around 16 pounds to have a player's name printed on their shirt. However, the club are doing it for free to celebrate Gyokeres' arrival at the club. The demand for the new season's shirt was so high that it led to Arsenal's official shop website crashing.
Arsenal have been on the lookout for a proper striker for quite some time now. The club wanted to land Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa last season and had bid for him in January, but their approach was turned down by Villa. Arsenal were in negotiations with Red Bull Salzburg for Benjamin Sesko, however, they failed ot agree a move for the 22-year-old, who is highly rated in Europe.
Arsenal then turned their attention towards Gyokeres, who went on a goal-scoring spree at Sporting last season. Gyokeres finished second in the Golden Shoe standings last season after scoring 39 goals for Sporting Lisbon across all competitions. He scored 97 goals in just 102 appearances for Sporting since moving to the Portuguese club from Championship side Coventry City in 2023, and has become one of the top strikers in Europe.
Arsenal fans would be hopeful of Gyokeres replicating his goal-scoring exploits for the Premier League giants in the upcoming season as they look to finally close the gap on the league title after falling short in the last two years.
