Arsenal have been tipped to signal Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon – however they’ve not had a lot success with gamers from the Primeira Liga.
The Sweden worldwide could be a possible game-changer for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, given his distinctive document of 97 targets in 102 appearances over the past two seasons with Sporting. However he’d break one thing of a hex if he proves a hit in North London.
We’ve taken a have a look at the earlier 5 and the way they fared at Arsenal. Word: we’ve not included any academy graduates who didn’t make any first-team appearances.
Stefan Schwarz
After serving to Sweden to a third-place end on the 1994 World Cup, Schwarz determined to go away Benfica and joined Arsenal in a £1.8millon deal.
The midfielder was initially billed as a playmaker who might fill the void left by David Rocastle, however he as a substitute turned the water service beneath George Graham.
His arrival additionally coincided with a transitional interval for the Gunners and so they had a disastrous season within the Premier League, ending in twelfth place.
Schwarz was nonetheless a pivotal determine in Arsenal’s run to the 1995 European Cup Winners’ Cup last, scoring a late equaliser towards Sampdoria within the semi-finals.
However their 2-1 defeat to Actual Zaragoza within the last proved to be his forty fifth and last look for the membership. After Graham was changed by Bruce Rioch, Arsenal signed David Platt and Schwarz was allowed to affix Fiorentina in a £2.5mllion transfer.
“I can’t say George Graham did something mistaken at Arsenal as a result of he gained a lot, however it was a really direct approach of enjoying – greater than I used to be used to,” he advised FourFourTwo in 2021.
“I needed to be utilised in additional of an attacking sense. If the fashion had been barely totally different, perhaps I’d have made an excellent greater affect.”
He later returned to England with Sunderland, who insisted on a clause in his contract stopping him from going into outer area. And no, we’re not making this up.
Luis Boa Morte
One among Arsene Wenger’s first signings at Arsenal, Boa Morte got here by means of the academy at boyhood membership Sporting Lisbon earlier than transferring to north London in 1997.
He scored two targets in 21 appearances in his debut season as Arsenal gained the Premier League and FA Cup double in 1997-98.
However the former Portugal winger by no means established himself as a first-team common and was bought to Southampton for simply £500,000 in 1999.
Rui Fonte
Having poached Boa Morte from Sporting’s academy in 1997, Arsenal returned to the Portuguese membership in 2006 and signed a 16-year-old Fonte.
The winger confirmed loads of promise within the youth groups and made his senior debut in 2008, coming off the bench in a League Cup win over Wigan.
That proved to be his one and solely look for the Gunners, and he determined to return to Sporting following the expiration of his contract in 2009.
“I used to be 16 and stayed there till I used to be 19 – it was good however it was troublesome as a result of I used to be too younger,” Fonte stated in 2017.
“If you’re that younger, when you’re not sturdy sufficient mentally it will get actual robust when the onerous occasions come however now I’m 27, it’s been a very long time since then. It was factor for my profession to get mentally sturdy nevertheless.”
Nuno Tavares
Signed from Benfica in a £7.2million deal in the summertime of 2021, Tavares was introduced in to behave as cowl for Kieran Tierney at left-back.
The Portugal Below-21 worldwide made 28 appearances in all competitions in his debut season and scored his first objective for Arsenal in a 3-1 win over Manchester United.
However he usually appeared weak defensively and even suffered the ignominy of being substituted earlier than half-time after an error-strewn show towards Nottingham Forest within the FA Cup.
“All through your profession, you need to undergo actually troublesome moments,” Mikel Arteta stated after Tavares was later subbed off at half-time towards Crystal Palace.
“He had some actually good durations when he arrived on the membership and was enjoying many extra minutes than he was in all probability anticipating.
“That is the event of any younger participant. You undergo ups and downs and we’re right here to assist him to make his profession higher. He’s prepared and he’s keen. He can be dissatisfied however that’s a part of the job.”
Tavares was subsequently loaned out to Marseille, Nottingham Forest and most just lately Lazio, the place he’s rebuilt his status, incomes a everlasting transfer to the Stadio Olimpico.
Fabio Vieira
Introduced in as a highly-rated teen with a wonderful assists document from his comparatively restricted expertise at Porto, Vieira has struggled to kick on within the three years since he signed for the Gunners.
Having didn’t nail down a first-team place, the Portuguese playmaker by no means made a lot of an affect in his intermittent cameos and by no means appeared to persuade Arteta.
After a reasonably non-descript mortgage again to his boyhood membership final season, it stays to be seen what the longer term holds for Vieira. You’d be stunned if he elements into his father or mother membership’s plans for 2025-26.
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