BID READY: ARSENAL TARGET 60M "POWERHOUSE" WHO COULD REVIVE MARTINELLI

Last season saw Arsenal take another step forward, as while they failed to take the Premier League title from Manchester City, they did push them to the final day of the campaign.

Improvements were evident across the board from Mikel Arteta's men, be it the best-in-class defence, Martin Odegaard's leadership qualities, or Bukayo Saka registering an outrageously impressive 34 goals and assist in 47 appearances across all competitions.

However, Gabriel Martinelli was one of the few players who seemingly took a step backwards.

The good news for him is that the latest star touted for a move to the Emirates this summer could turn his fortunes around and revive his attacking output.

Arsenal transfer news

According to a recent report from The Daily Briefing via Caught Offside, Arsenal have reignited their interest in Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres this summer and are now ready to make an offer.

Alongside the Gunners, the report claims that cross-city rivals Chelsea are the team most keen to land the Swedish goal machine, while Atlético Madrid have also shown some interest.

The report has revealed that once the North Londoners have sold Eddie Nketiah, they will test their luck with an offer in the region of £55m to £60m. While that is substantially less than his £86m release clause, other reports this week claiming the striker is keen to return to England could help move things along.

Overall, Arsenal will have to spend a lot of money to sign Gyokeres this summer, but given his incredible form last season and the impact that could have on a player like Martinelli, he's worth the money.

How Gyokeres could improve Martinelli

Now, there are likely a plethora of ways in which Gyokeres could help Martinelli get back to his best next season, from acting as a role model off the pitch to helping him practice his finishing on the training pitch, but the main reason the Swedish international would be so useful for the Brazilian is his raw output.

In just 50 games last season, the 6 foot 2 "powerhouse", as dubbed by data analyst Ben Mattinson, scored a whopping 43 goals and provided 15 assists to boot, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 0.86 games, or in other words, provided 1.16 in every match.

This frankly outrageous rate of return completely exceeds Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus' averages of 0.41 and 0.44 per match, respectively.

If the former Ituano gem was playing alongside a number nine as clinical as the Sporting Ace, then it seems only logical that the number of assists he registers every season would significantly increase, especially as Understat have concluded that he underperformed his expected assists figure by 1.32 in the league last season and by a whopping 4.35 the season prior.

However, it wouldn't be just the 23-year-old's assists that would likely increase, but his goalscoring as well.

With 15 assists to his name last season and 12 the year before that, the former Coventry City ace is clearly more than just a poacher. He could, in fact, become a provider for the Gunners' other attackers, akin to Harry Kane's creative contribution to Tottenham Hotspur over the years.

Ultimately, while it would be incredible to sign Gyokeres for less than his asking price in the coming weeks, he's such a gifted striker that even paying the full amount would likely be worth it in the long run, especially if he can help revive Martinelli next season.

Therefore, if they have the chance, Edu Gaspar and Co should absolutely bring the Swedish goal machine to the Emirates this summer.

2024-07-26T07:47:01Z dg43tfdfdgfd