How close did Viktor Gyokeres come to joining Man Utd?

Robin Bairner

Updated: 10 Oct 2025 03:15 CDT
3 min read

Viktor Gyokeres, Man Utd, Arsenal — © IMAGO

Viktor Gyokeres could have been a Manchester United player by now, with an assistant to the agent of the Arsenal striker revealing that a deal was actually agreed with him to move to Old Trafford in the summer.

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Gyokeres’ transfer saga was one of the defining sagas of the transfer window, with the Sweden international striker ultimately moving to Arsenal for a fee of €66 million (£57.45m).

Having missed out on the 27-year-old, Man Utd instead moved for Benjamin Sesko, yet it now appears that the former RB Leipzig hitman was the second choice of the Old Trafford side.

Current ETV

Viktor Gyökeres

F (C)

Arsenal

Viktor Gyökeres

F (C)

Arsenal

ETV Range

€67.3M - €82.2M

Jonathan Chalkias, an assistant to Gyokeres' agent Hasan Cetinkaya, has alleged that before the former Coventry hitman agreed to move to the Emirates Stadium, Sporting were secretly plotting to hook him up again with Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford.

“There were crazy amounts offered from Saudi Arabia. We're supposed to act in our best interest,” Chalkias told the Studio Allsvenskan podcast. “Do we have also have a percentage of any fee? Of course. It's a lot of money. Maybe Viktor should respond to that someday.

“I don't think we pressured him once to accept the offer. At the end of the day, money comes and goes and this move to Arsenal brings us a lot of marketing.

“Sporting had concluded a deal with Manchester United behind our backs, that was a problem. United offered a higher transfer fee.”

The real reason behind Sporting’s anger revealed?

Gyokeres ultimately left Lisbon under a cloud. There was a very public dispute with Sporting president Frederic Varandas, who slammed the way that the Swede conducted himself in trying to force a move away.

Armed with the information provided by Chalkias, it’s not a leap to guess that Sporting’s anger towards the striker may have been generated at least in part by his refusal to accept Man Utd’s bigger bid and instead move to Arsenal.

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