{"id":61116,"date":"2025-07-13T02:23:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T02:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/61116\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T02:23:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T02:23:20","slug":"no-one-is-above-the-club-sporting-presidents-stern-statement-after-arsenal-target-viktor-gyokeres-fails-to-report-to-training-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/61116\/","title":{"rendered":"‘No one is above the club’ – Sporting president’s stern statement after Arsenal target Viktor Gyokeres fails to report to training ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been another crazy day in the world of Viktor Gyokeres.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Premier League-linked striker started Saturday with a feature length interview in one of Europe\u2019s leading sports outlets, then saw his Sporting teammates start pre-season without him, and ended it with his club president putting him in a very uncomfortable position.<\/p>\n

\"Gyokeres<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Gyokeres was the headline act in one of Europe’s leading sports outlets to start the dayCredit: France Football\"Attention<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Attention then turned to the club’s training ground with Gyokeres a no showCredit: Record<\/p>\n

But let’s start with the last of those first, as it\u2019s certainly the most important when it comes to Arsenal<\/a> and Manchester United<\/a> fans desperate to see the big Swede playing for them next season.<\/p>\n

Sporting president Frederico Varandas has been steadfast in his messaging over Gyokeres, only recently loosening his stance on the striker\u2019s release clause.<\/p>\n

However, any hope of a cut price deal has now been ruled out by the executive, even with his key man playing hardball<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re calm. Everything can be solved with the closure of the market, a heavy fine and an apology to the group,\u201d Varandas said after Gyokeres failed to turn up for a pre-season trip to Nigeria.<\/p>\n

read more on viktor gyokeres<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they [Arsenal] don\u2019t want to pay Viktor\u2019s fair market value, we\u2019ll be very comfortable with that for the next three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the geniuses who are devising this strategy think that this puts pressure on me to make it easier for him to leave, not only are they completely wrong, but they are also making it more complicated for the player to leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one is above the interests of the club. Whoever they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gyokeres joined Sporting in 2023 from Coventry<\/a> for \u00a316million, signing a contract until 2028 with a \u20ac100m (\u00a385m) release clause.<\/p>\n

Varandas, who has been one of the key men in getting Sporting back to the top of Portuguese football after years of chasing Porto and Benfica, has continually reiterated that it will be no problem at all if the right offer doesn\u2019t arrive and Gyokeres fulfils the remaining years of his contract.<\/p>\n

He had to keep his messaging up after, as expected, the 54-goal striker was absent from the club\u2019s training ground<\/a> ahead of their pre-season flight to Lagos.<\/p>\n

\"Varandas<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Varandas made it clear to Arsenal and United that Gyokeres sitting out of pre-season won’t impact his price in any wayCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Gyokeres\u2019 no show stole the headlines across Europe, taking them even from himself.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, L\u2019Equipe magazine France Football released a feature length interview with the 27-year-old who made some bold claims about his abilities.<\/p>\n

Asked if he\u2019s in the same conversation as elite strikers Erling Haaland<\/a>, Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski, he replied: “I am part of it, that’s for sure. It’s difficult to classify me but, yes, I am at the same table as them now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to show that I am capable of maintaining these performances season after season. You have not seen the best Gyokeres yet.”<\/p>\n

The Swede, whose preference for next season is Arsenal over United, also talked up his potential future team and how \u2018impressed\u2019 he is by Bukayo Saka<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He also addressed the mystery of his career – how he was so unremarkable in his previous English spells with Brighton and Swansea but is now seemingly on his way to the top.<\/p>\n

\"Gyokeres'<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Gyokeres’ season has made him one of Europe’s most sought after players<\/p>\n

“The key was to start playing like I did when I was a child,\u201d he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of my career, I was distracting my mind. By stopping overthinking on the pitch, I made my football more direct and instinctive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat obsession with goals, which I’ve always had, is once again the essence of my game. I don’t think about anything other than scoring and winning, that changes everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy career has taught me that, even in difficult times, you have to keep your childhood dreams alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep working, keep moving forward without slowing down, and think day by day because the future is too uncertain.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been another crazy day in the world of Viktor Gyokeres. The Premier League-linked striker started Saturday with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":61117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[5407,24284,9133,44092,44093,44094,44095,221,4551,62,67,132,68,13723],"class_list":{"0":"post-61116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-arsenal-news","10":"tag-arsenal-transfer-news","11":"tag-arsenal-updates","12":"tag-gyokeres-to-arsenal","13":"tag-man-united","14":"tag-man-united-transfer-news","15":"tag-soccer","16":"tag-sporting","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-viktor-gyokeres"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114843550035969431","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}