Viktor Gyokeres facing 'hefty fine' after going AWOL to force through Arsenal transfer

Sporting CP will punish Viktor Gyokeres after he snubbed their pre-season training camp in the Algarve in his latest bid to push through a £69million move to Arsenal. The Sporting squad departed the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo at around 5:35pm local time for Lagos, near Faro without their talismanic goalscorer, who's now facing disciplinary action after opting to remain in Sweden with his family.

Sporting's players were asked to report at 4:30pm but unsurprisingly, Gyokeres did not show, nor did he arrive in the hour window that followed before the team bus eventually set off.

Sporting president Frederico Varandas later said of Arsenal's bid: “If they don't want to pay Viktor's fair market value, we're very comfortable with that for the next three years. This strategy is also making it more complicated for the player to leave. Nobody is above the interests of the club. Whoever they are. We're calm. Everything will be resolved with the market closing, a hefty fine and an apology to the group."

Gyokeres has also now claimed he has unfinished business in the Premier League having also skipped training on Friday.

The Sweden international, who has never featured in the top-flight despite making eight appearances for Brighton, said when asked about a potential return to England: “It’s one of the biggest leagues in Europe. I spent several years there without being able to play a single match, so of course, it’s something I’d like to do, it would be great revenge!”

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Arsenal officials spent last weekend in Lisbon trying to thrash out a deal during face-to-face talks and while negotiations remain advanced, they’re yet to shake hands with Sporting.

Their offer is understood to be worth an initial £56million plus up to £13m in add-ons, however, the Portuguese champions want £60m up front before bonuses – a request the Gunners are yet to match.

France Football ’s interview with Gyokeres took place in late May, but was published in L’Equipe on Saturday to add further fuel to the fire and rub salt into Sporting wounds.

When asked by France Football which players within Europe had impressed him, the ex-Coventry and Swansea attacker name-dropped three Arsenal stars he could soon be calling team-mates.

Gyokeres, who also declared he wants to play for “a club that really wants him,” revealed: “Midfielders like Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic at Manchester City or Bukayo Saka at Arsenal are impressive to watch.

“I’ve also faced very high-level defenders, like Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, it’s a chance to play against those kinds of players.”

Gyokeres - scorer of 97 goals in 102 Sporting appearances in the past two seasons - insists he must now be considered among the best strikers in world football.

He added when asked what he makes of comparisons to Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski: “I’m definitely one of them. It’s hard to label myself, but yes, I’m at the same table as them now.

“They’re extraordinary players, at the highest level for many years, who have proven themselves much more than I have. “What I achieved at Sporting, I’m convinced I can achieve anywhere. “They haven’t seen the best of Gyökeres yet.”

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