It was one of the longest and most drawn out transfer negotiations of recent seasons, but Arsenal finally got their man after agreeing a deal worth up to £64m with Sporting CP for striker, Viktor Gyokeres.
The Swedish international has long been on the radar of a number of top European clubs after a sensational scoring spell in Portugal.
One of the most feared marksmen in Europe
Signed for just £20.5m from Coventry in 2023, when no English club seemingly wanted to take a chance on him, Gyokeres has since gone on to become one of the most feared marksmen in Europe.
In 52 games during the 2024/25 season, he managed a sensational 54 goals and 11 assists - 43 more goals than any of his Sporting teammates, only two of which - Trincao and Conrad Harder - made it into double figures.
The elephant in the room is that Gyokeres has never played at the top level of any league throughout his career, if we accept that the Portuguese league is one of those slightly behind the 'big five' of Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and LaLiga.
And yet, he's always scored goals wherever he's played. To that end, Arsenal stepping in where others have feared to tread seems less a brave gamble and more a well thought out and considered transfer decision, given their woes in front of goal at times.
Only one Arsenal player hit 15 goals last season
Taking last season as a sample size again, only Kai Havertz managed to reach 15 goals for the Gunners across all competitions... and he was injured in February.
Mikel Merino, despite being a midfielder by trade, can be happy with his nine goals, the same as Ethan Nwaneri, and just one less than both Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli (10).
With Gyokeres now secured, however, there shouldn't be a need for Merino to provide that supplementary attacking presence, save for set pieces.
That's because Mikel Arteta now has something he's been longing for - a target man. A striker who not only knows where the goal is, but has the physicality to hold up play and bring in his teammates, as well as taking defenders away from goal and opening up the spaces for the likes of Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice to profit.
Gyokeres' signing is also significant in that it should see a more direct way of playing from the north Londoners. Whilst incredibly pleasing aesthetically, Arsenal's style has often seen them pass up chances that would almost certainly have been meat and drink to someone such as the Swede.
Arsenal had become predictable
The Gunners had become very easy to defend against too, particularly towards the end of last season, because dare we say it, their football had become a little predictable.
They certainly weren't boring to watch, far from it in fact, though they clearly weren't taking advantage - at least in the Premier League - of the multiple goalscoring opportunities that presented themselves.
Viktor Gyokeres Recent StatsFlashscore
34 goals conceded in the English top-flight should really have been the platform from which to build a title-winning team, but just 69 goals scored in the league is ultimately where Arsenal fell short.
To put that into context, Liverpool managed 86 and even Man City scored 72 in what was a pretty awful season for Pep Guardiola's side, with respect.
It isn't just his goals where Gyokeres excels either.
Route one could be a thing next season
Always on the front foot and prepared to chase a lost cause, his 26 fast breaks were far in excess of any player from his new club. Martinelli's seven was the best showing for the north Londoners in this regard, and what that indicates is that balls over the top might well now become a feature.
Though route one is anathema to all that Arteta holds dear, there's little point in buying a striker of Gyokeres' evident quality if his skill set isn't going to be taken advantage of.
The benefits of a more physical presence can be shown too by the amount of one-on-one duels the front man was involved in during 2024/25. His 443 attempted was at least 120 more than any player in the Arsenal squad, although a 50.3% success rate is lower than a number of his new teammates.
Clearly, Arteta will want to see that edge to Gyokeres' play remain, but the striker needs to make much more of those challenges if he wants to be a success at the club.
Similarly, the go-to as far as this Arsenal are concerned is largely expected to be intricate build-up play, and to that end the Swede needs to also up his game significantly.
Gyokeres clearly needs work on one part of his game
Passing accuracy has been the weakest part of his game, and just 73.2% completion last season is lower than every player in the Gunners squad save for keeper, David Raya (70.5%).
That lack of contribution might get overlooked if he can continue his rich vein of form in front of goal. An xG of 38.42 dwarfs the north Londoners' efforts, with Havertz's 11.11 the best showing.
There's little doubt that when Arsenal are in the groove, they remain one of European football's most diligent passing teams who can and do play teams off the park, however, they've always come up short of late when it mattered.
The signing of Viktor Gyokeres will be seen as the one to change that and, as long as they play to his strengths, there's no reason why he can't become the final piece of Arteta's expensively put together jigsaw.