Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres has insisted there is nothing to “prove” to those who criticised his conduct prior to securing a high profile summer transfer to the Emirates Stadium.
After 97 goals in two seasons with Sporting CP, Gyökeres was keen to test himself at a bigger club and wound up refusing to report for pre-season duty in Lisbon to force a deal.
Gyökeres was fined by Sporting for his behaviour. The striker’s agent was accused by the Lisbon club’s president of trying to “blackmail” Sporting into forcing through a transfer on a reduced fee after a supposed gentleman’s agreement.
“There are a lot of people out there who have strong opinions about things they don’t really know. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but it’s impossible to please everyone. I don’t feel I need to prove anything to people who have no insight into what actually happened,” Gyökeres told reporters.
“It was tough. We waited a long time at one point, but I’m happy it was finalised in time and I got to be part of the [Arsenal] pre-season. Of course it was a shame how it ended, but that’s how it went this time. Sometimes life is like that. I was in negotiations and the holiday was extended because of that. I don’t want to go into details about why I didn’t come back.”
Gyökeres had never played in one of Europe’s top five leagues prior to joining Arsenal, nor had he ever featured in top-flight football at all until signing with Sporting in 2023. There were some doubts about how he would fare and while he has two Premier League goals to his name so far, both came against newly promoted Leeds United. It was blanks against Manchester United and Liverpool.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Viktor Gyokeres Defends Drastic Action Taken to Force Arsenal Transfer.