VIKTOR GYOKERES has broken his silence on his transfer fall-out with Sporting Lisbon chiefs with a brief 22-word statement.
The Sweden striker has reportedly come to blows with Sporting bosses after trying to force through a dream move to the Premier League.
Gyokeres, 27, is allegedly furious with Sporting for going back on their word over a promise to lower his £84million release clause and plans not to play for the club again.
He believes he had a gentleman’s agreement to leave the Portuguese giants for £50million with a further £8million in add-ons, but that claim has been denied by president Frederico Varandas.
The former Coventry striker then reportedly threatened to go on strike while vowing not to play for the club again if they don’t lower their offer.
But Varandas insisted he will not be bullied into letting the Arsenal and Manchester United target move to the Prem on the cheap this summer.
Varandas said: “Sporting will not accept blackmail and insults – you should know me better by now.”
But Gyokeres has now tried to play down the squabble rumours by throwing doubt on some of the reports with a short statement on social media.
He wrote on his Instagram story on Thursday evening: “There is a lot of talks at the moment, most of it is false. I will speak when the time is right.”
It also comes after reports claimed that Arsenal submitted a new bid for Gyokeres on Wednesday, with his agent Hasan Cetinkaya visiting London to fast-track the transfer.
But Varandas statement also read: “I can guarantee that Viktor Gyokeres will not leave for €60m+10m (£51m+£8.5m) because I never promised him that.
“This game that the agent is playing only makes the situation worse. To this day, Sporting has not had an offer for Viktor, neither today nor last season.”
“It was agreed that Sporting would not demand the release clause at the end of the following season, especially because he was going to be 27.”
The Swede is one of the most in-demand players this summer after scoring a staggering 97 goals in 102 matches for Sporting since joining in the summer of 2023.
Last season, he netted he netted 54 times in 52 outings – including a Champions League hat-trick against Manchester City, while 39 of those goals came in just 33 league games.
Despite United’s interest, Arsenal remain favourites to nab him, with new director of football Andrea Berta a big fan from his days at Atletico Madrid.
Gyokeres has removed any reference to Sporting on his Instagram account, having also got rid of any mention of Sweden and Nike.
He has three years remaining on his contract in Lisbon, but he is determined to take on a new challenge after just two years at the club, where he won the league twice, and completed a domestic double this season.
United boss Ruben Amorim, who managed Gyokeres at Sporting, has since been linked with a shock move for Liverpool and Chelsea target Hugo Ekitike.
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