Viktor Gyökeres made his Premier League debut for Arsenal at Old Trafford on the first day of the 2025–26 season. Porém, se o Sporting CP, seu antigo clube, tivesse conseguido o que queria, o prolífico sueco estaria jogando pelo Manchester United em vez de pelos visitantes.
Although offering a more attractive transfer package than their Premier League competitors, it was the player who chose to join Arsenal instead of the Red Devils.
The Gunners found the process of extracting Gyökeres from Lisbon to be exhausting. Em meio a graves acusações de chantagem, traição e uma greve dos jogadores, o Arsenal conseguiu fechar um acordo de €63,5 milhões (£55,3 milhões, $73,7 milhões) inicialmente, com mais €10 milhões disponíveis em bônus relacionados ao desempenho.
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This saga became so complicated because Gyökeres and his team of advisors thought they had settled on a fee that Sporting would accept prior to the opening of the transfer window.
O clube de Lisboa também estava passando por um período de transição na contratação de jogadores, após seu diretor esportivo, Hugo Viana, ter se transferido para o Manchester City. Isso levou o presidente do clube, Frederico Varandas, a afirmar publicamente que não havia nenhum acordo do tipo.
Viktor Gyökeres
Viktor Gyökeres foi a principal contratação do Arsenal neste verão. / Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Jonathan Chalkias, a representative of Gyökeres, disclosed that Sporting were extremely determined to manage the forward’s next move to the extent that they “concluded a deal with Manchester United behind our backs.” Chalkias stated that the team led by Ruben Amorim, Gyökeres’s previous boss at Sporting, “proposed a higher transfer fee.”
Fabrizio Romano backed the assertion that the talks between United and Sporting were “closed,” disclosing that although the fallen Premier League giants proposed a lower fixed amount than the €63.5 million paid by Arsenal, they had settled on “better bonuses.”
É claro que essa oferta financeira superior, aliada ao benefício adicional de dar um golpe nos agentes de Gyökeres, era ainda mais atraente para o Sporting. Romano asserts that the current Portuguese champions were “pushing like crazy” to transfer their No. 9 to Old Trafford, only to receive a strong refusal from Gyökeres.
For the rampant talisman, it is believed that his love for the Gunners was the main reason for the transfer. To accommodate their client’s needs, Gyökeres’s agents had to forgo their usual 10% signing-on fee. “It’s a lot of money,” Chalkias remarked pointedly. Talvez Viktor deva responder a isso algum dia.”
