The 27-year-old completed his transfer worth up to £64M on Saturday following several weeks of hard fought negotiations with the Portuguese champions who were stubborn from start to finish. Gyokeres returns to England having scored a remarkable 97 goals in 104 appearances for Sporting as he tries to bring his form to the Premier League and to Arsenal in their title race.
The Portuguese international has now revealed that there were other clubs prying for his signature this summer which will have included Manchester United who were head to head with the Gunners before the striker chose the move to North London.
“There were more clubs involved but I wanted to come here at Arsenal… it’s the best club for me”.
“It wasn’t an easy deal. Some people spoke to the media all the time… they thought they were protecting the interest of the club”.
When asked about the options he had this summer, Gyokeres replied:
“There were some clubs in England and Italy, but also in the Middle East. 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.”
Despite it not being clear what exact clubs chased Gyokeres and eventually fell out of the race. It is certain that one of those sides was Manchester United who were deeply invested in the striker who was drawn to manager Mikel Arteta and his project. Arsenal won the race for Gyokeres and it will be interesting to see him face United in the first game of the season.