Viktor Gyokeres will be bringing his unique goal celebration to the Premier League next season…if Arsenal can finally get the deal done.
The Gunners have been pursuing the Sporting striker this summer and a move is edging ever closer, with a confirmation expected very soon.
On Tuesday the Athletic reported that a deal was imminent after lengthy discussions over the structure of the transfer payments.
A deal worth €63.5million (£54.8m), plus €10m (£8.6m) in add-ons, had been agreed earlier this month, but there were further negotiations over how the add-ons would be paid.
Those talks appear to have reached a conclusion and Gyokeres is on his way to join Arsenal, although fans will not rest entirely easily until the Swede is unveiled by the club.
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The 27-year-old has earned his move to the Emirates thanks to his incredible goal-scoring form for Sporting over the last two seasons.
Since moving to Lisbon from Coventry in 2023 he has scored 97 goals in 102 games and fans have become very used to seeing his iconic goal celebration, but what does it mean?
What does Viktor Gyokeres’ goal celebration mean?
Gyokeres posted a compilation of goals and celebrations on Instagram last year, which had the caption: ‘Nobody cared until I put on the mask 🎭’
The line is a slight misquote from the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises, when the villain Bane says: ‘It doesn’t matter who we are, what matters is our plan. No one cared who I was till I put on the mask.’
It’s unlikely that Gyokeres is paying a tribute to Bane because he intends to blow up a city with a massive bomb, but you simply never know.
What does seem clear is that the striker is a fan of the character portrayed by Tom Hardy in the 2012 blockbuster.
Gyokeres has been pulling out the Bane celebration for some time, with Coventry fans treated to the move during his time with the Sky Blues.
The Sweden international’s last season with Coventry saw him score 21 goals in the Championship, which earned himself a move to Sporting.
His soon-to-be teammates at Arsenal are obviously well aware of how Gyokeres celebrates goals, with Myles Lewis-Skelly copying the move when the latest reports of the transfer broke.
The Gunners youngster reacted to the news that a Gyokeres deal was imminent by putting both hands over his mouth in honour of the incoming forward.
Former Arsenal star Anders Limpar, who was something of a mentor to his fellow Swede in Gyokeres’ early years, reckons we will see plenty of the Bane celebration this season.
‘He’s such a prospect when it comes to looking after himself, no scandals, he is a hell of a player,’ Limpar told fotbolldirekt.
‘He’s a No. 9, and can sniff a goal chance. He’s going to be the perfect icing on the cake at Arsenal.
‘And I don’t have to look down on [Kai] Havertz, or [Gabriel] Jesus, but bringing in Viktor at this moment, at his best age and form.
‘He’s a goalscoring machine and with all the supply from the wings and from Odegaard, he’s going to score 25 goals.’