In the summer of 2025, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal finally solved – or so they thought – their centre-forward problems by signing Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP for a hefty upfront cost of £54.8 million. However, Mika Biereth, a striker sold in 2024 for £4 million, is now valued more than Sweden’s top scorer.
Although scoring goals has never been a problem for the Gunners, who have placed second in the Premier League in consecutive seasons, finding a natural-born striker has been difficult… may 27-year-old Gyokeres be the answer?
The Emirates Stadium supporters, in the early stages of the 2025/26 English top flight campaign, are definitely hoping so, especially after arriving to much acclaim after scoring 67 goals in 52 matches across all competitions previous season.
Biereth, Who Arsenal Sold for £4m, Now Worth More than Gyokeres
Despite his team’s 1-0 victory, Gyokeres, widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, was reduced to sour grapes by Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United in his first Premier League appearance for the north London club.
The striker, who was born in Stockholm, had only 22 touches, three of which were in the Red Devils penalty area, and no shots on goal. “He didn’t look sharp,” Roy Keane told The Mirror. “He had moments where he showed his physicality, but he wasn’t clinical enough in the final third.”
If Gyokeres fails to meet expectations following his move from Portugal to England, Arsenal’s board of directors may come to regret allowing Biereth, valued at £64 million by CIES Football Observatory, to leave in the summer of 2024.
Biereth, who was born in London but is of Danish heritage, presently plays for French club AS Monaco, and his market worth is higher than what Arsenal paid for Gyokeres, who had previously played for Coventry City and Brighton & Hove Albion in England.
Biereth was on Arsenal’s books for three years after transferring across London from Fulham in 2021; he scored 12 goals for the club’s Under-21s in his first season at the academy, but he did not emerge as a senior option for Arteta.
He was, nevertheless, named to the first-team matchday squad on four times (all in January 2022), but he did not receive the opportunity to impress. He had loan spells with RKC Waalwijk and Motherwell before making the permanent switch to Sturm Graz.
Monaco was drawn to the striker’s ability in the final third, and he joined the club in January 2025, where he continued to score impressive goals. Linked with Unai Emery’s Aston Villa this summer, he scored 13 goals in 16 league appearances for the club.
That is precisely why he moved on last summer. In 2024/25, the 22-year-old, who has four caps for Denmark, scored 27 goals in 44 games for Sturm Graz and Monaco, while also dishing up eight assists in his career-best season.
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