Victor Gokeres was involved in one of the summer’s big transfer sprees, with the Arsenal forward seeing Sporting CP looking to move him to Manchester United before his departure.
Manchester United signed a deal with Sporting CP to sign Victor Gokeres this summer, but the deal was reached behind the star striker’s back.
Those close to the Swedish forward claim he was kept out of the loop because the Red Devils offered a higher transfer fee than Arsenal paid for him. Gökeres eventually moved to the Emirates in a deal worth £63.7m, but had quite a few run-ins with his former club. The 27-year-old went on strike before the Gunners reached an agreement with the Portuguese side.
Arsenal’s number 14 was widely expected to leave Lisbon after two highly successful seasons in Portugal, but did not take part in pre-season training as his camp tried to force through a move they believed had already been agreed. The North London side made Gokeres their top target after the transfer of Benjamin Sesco when the RB Leipzig striker’s wage demands became an issue.
Sesco ultimately signed for United after the Red Devils splashed out £74 million for the Slovenian international. But Jonathan Halkias, assistant to Gokeres’ agent Hasan Çetinkaya, suggested Sporting were trying to push his client in that direction.
Halkias explained that a move to Arsenal would have brought Gokeres more than the high price offered by the Saudi side, and that there was more interest in the move than a reunion with Ruben Amorim. “Saudi Arabia has offered us an exorbitant amount of money. We should act in our best interests,” Halkias said on the Daily Mail’s Studio Allsvenskan podcast.
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“Is there also a percentage[of the fee]? Of course. That’s a lot of money. Maybe Victor will agree to it at some point.”
“I don’t think we ever put any pressure on him to accept the offer. At the end of the day, money comes and goes and this move to Arsenal has given us a lot of marketing.”
“They (Sporting) had signed a deal with Manchester United behind our backs. That was a problem. United offered a higher transfer fee.”
Chalkias also hit back at Sporting boss Frederico Varandas’ criticism of Gokeres. The executive issued a surprising statement saying he would not be intimidated by Gokeres’ strike.
There were clashes over the terms of the agreement surrounding Gokeres’ departure, but the forward’s agent believes the club have broken their word following Hugo Viana’s departure for Manchester City.
“If[Hugo]Viana was still at Sporting, the contract would have been concluded within an hour. Everything was written, but there was no time to start the legal battle,” Halkias explained.
“I don’t understand how a player who has scored so many goals and won three trophies doesn’t deserve more respect. It’s about trust in people in this industry and the sacrifices we made were probably the turning point in getting the deal done.”
“They offered him to Real Madrid and there was talk of Madrid and even United, but there was a commitment to Arsenal from day one.”
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