Gyokeres picks Arsenal over United - transfer truth revealed

4 godzin temu

Viktor Gyokeres completed a £64 million move to Arsenal, choosing the Gunners over a potential reunion with Ruben Amorim at Manchester United. The Swedish striker had netted 66 goals in 68 games under Amorim during their time together at Sporting.

According to the Daily Mail, Manchester United never made an approach for Gyokeres as they believed the striker had his heart set on joining Arsenal. The club reportedly wanted to avoid another transfer battle after missing out on Liam Delap to Chelsea.

Arsenal's decisive recruitment

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta convinced Gyokeres to join the Gunners after just one phone call, the Daily Mail reports. United instead invested £74 million in RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko as their primary attacking reinforcement.

Manchester Evening News reports that Gyokeres' agent Hasan Cetinkaya was "upset" over Victor Lindelof's treatment at United, potentially influencing the transfer decision. The outlet also revealed that Sporting teammates cried when Amorim announced his departure, but Gyokeres showed diplomatic restraint.

First reunion awaits

The former Sporting duo will face each other for the first time when United host Arsenal in their Premier League opener at Old Trafford. Amorim acknowledged the challenge ahead when discussing his former striker.

"Viktor is in a different league, the physicality is different," Amorim said. "In Sporting, they have a very good group of scouting, because we get from that the players that they can buy and then sell to survive. I think he's a very good player, he's going to give different characteristics."

United's new attack

Amorim is focusing on his rebuilt attack, with Sesko joining Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha as United's new front three. According to Manchester Evening News, this trio scored 58 goals combined last season.

"It's going to be different if we face in the beginning of the game if we face Viktor or Havertz, for example. So, we need to be prepared for that, but it's not a surprise to watch Viktor in a big club in England," Amorim said.

The Portuguese manager expressed confidence in his striker signing. "I think he has great potential. In everything he does. He can play different types of football," Amorim said of Sesko. "He's going to feel that the Premier League is really aggressive, he's going to learn, but he has a great potential and I can see Ben being a striker for Manchester United for a lot of years. That's why we paid so much money to have a striker that will have his history in our club."

Sources used: "Mirror", "Daily Mail", "Manchester Evening News" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.

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