Portuguese media make feelings clear on Viktor Gyokeres transfer saga as Arsenal seal £63m move

Arsenal are widely reported to have reached an agreement with Portuguese club Sporting to sign Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres. Here’s the perspective from the Portuguese press.

The 27-year-old is said to be joining the Gunners in a deal worth a total of €73.5m (£63.7m) after a lengthy saga that involved Sporting holding firm on their evaluation and Gyokeres threatened with disciplinary action after failing to turn up to training.

Here’s a round up of how some of the Portuguese press perceive the move.

Indeed, A Bola has claimed that the move always appeared inevitable. Arsenal could not abandon the deal due to matters of “credibility”, while Sporting had little leverage given the player was keen to sign for the north Londoners.

According to the publication: “The Gunners also have their hands tied—after so many episodes of this soap opera, abandoning the deal because of two or three million in potential bonuses would have been a blow to their own credibility.

“It could jeopardize future deals. Arsenal can't take that risk. Sporting can't risk having Gyokeres upset. They're doomed to compromise.”

Elsewhere, Portuguese journalist Bruno Andrade claimed that the performance-related bonuses in Gyokores’ contract are likely to be realistic and achievable,

“If the contract is for five years, everything indicates that these objectives will be met over those five years,” he said. “Usually, when you make an offer with objectives included, they are easy to meet in the short term – in the first or second year of the contract, through number of appearances, goals…”

Arsenal may finally have secured a transfer to sign Viktor Gyokeres

He added: “When you extend that to cover five years, they still need to be attainable – so it’s probably things like number of goals, number of games, Champions League qualification, which Arsenal achieves quite frequently.”

According to the CNN Portugal pundit, what matters most is that the saga is nearing a conclusion.

He said: “What’s important is that the situation has finally been resolved. Sporting has finally solved a headache. [Sporting president Frederico] Varandas got what he wanted. It took time, but he got it. The deal will go through on his terms.”