Viktor Gyokeres was offered to shock club no-one expected before completing Arsenal transfer
New Arsenal forward Viktor Gyokeres was reportedly offered to a shock club before he joined the Gunners, having also rejected Manchester United.
Gyokeres, 27, signed a five-year deal at Arsenal in a deal which could be worth up to £73m after a long-running transfer saga which hit several sticking points with regards to bonuses and add-ons between the Gunners and the Swede’s former club Sporting CP.
On Thursday, the striker made his first appearance for his new club during Mikel Arteta’s side’s 1-0 pre-season friendly defeat against Spurs in Hong Kong.
After the defeat, Arteta explained how he is “happy” to have Gyokeres and fellow new man Cristhian Mosquera at the club.
Advert
“I am really happy to have them,” Arteta said.
“I think they are going to add a lot of value. You see straight away the energy and the quality they are going to bring.
“It was a short one (their debuts) but at least that one is over now – and when they play against Villarreal, I’m sure it will be different.”
But things could’ve been entirely different, according to an associate of Gyokeres’ agent.
It was well documented that the Sweden international essentially rejected Manchester United despite interest from the 20-time Premier League champions this summer.
However, Jonathan Chalkias, who works alongside Gyokeres' agent Hasan Cetinkaya, has since opened up about the saga and explained how the 27-year-old was also offered to an elite European club.
Speaking to WTV in Sweden, Chalkias said: “There was a gentleman’s agreement with the previous sporting director. If Hugo Viana were still at Sporting, the deal would have been done in an hour.
“Everything was written, we didn’t have time to start a legal battle.
“I don’t understand how a player who scored so many goals and won three trophies didn’t deserve more respect. The sacrifices we made were the turning point for the deal to happen.
“They offered Gyokeres to Real Madrid, they even made headlines with Man United, but there was a commitment with Arsenal.
“Viktor always trusted Hasan Cetinkaya’s [the striker’s agent] project: they agreed to move to a league with less exposure, like the Portuguese, to win titles and return to the Premier League. At the time, there were already seven Premier League clubs interested.”
Juventus and Al Hilal were also tentatively linked with the forward this summer.
But Gyokeres was sure of his decision, which he opened up about in the documentary on WTV.
“There were some clubs in England and Italy, but also in the Middle East,” Gyokeres said.
“There were some options, very good options.
“Of course, you think about what you have in front of you. You have to make a decision, but from the first second, I felt that this [Arsenal] was what I wanted. It wasn’t a difficult decision.”
Gyokeres has previously spoke about having unfinished business in English football having struggled during his time at Brighton between 2018 and 2021. Although he thrived at Coventry City which then earned him a move to Sporting CP.
Topics: Viktor Gyokeres, Arsenal, Football, Transfer News, Premier League, Mikel Arteta, Manchester United
Luke Davies