Agent says Arsenal signing was offered to Real Madrid, not Zubimendi

The representative of Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres has said that the Sweden international was offered to Real Madrid by Sporting CP.

The Gunners acquired the services of the 27-year-old from Sporting CP last week. He made his maiden appearance versus Tottenham Hotspur today.

Gyökeres only managed a 20-minute cameo and requires more minutes under his belt to recapture his form ahead of the new Premier League season.

In an interview with WTV (via A Bola), Gyökeres’ agent Jonathan Chalkias has now disclosed that there was a gentleman’s agreement with Hugo Viana, who was previously the sporting director at Sporting CP.

He added that everything was written, but they did not have time to start a legal battle. Gyökeres was clearly committed to Arsenal despite Sporting CP offering him to Real Madrid and Manchester United.

He said: “There was a gentleman’s agreement with the previous sporting director. If Hugo Viana were still at Sporting, the deal would have been done in an hour.”

“Everything was written, we didn’t have time to start a legal battle. I don’t understand how a player who scored so many goals and won three trophies didn’t deserve more respect.

“The sacrifices we made were the turning point for the deal to happen. They offered Gyökeres to Real Madrid, they even made headlines with Manchester United, but there was a commitment with Arsenal.”

Gyökeres only wanted to join Arsenal

The 27-year-old had a fabulous 2024/25 season with Sporting CP, scoring 54 goals and providing 13 assists. He had a gentleman’s agreement to leave for €60 million plus €10m in add-ons, but the Portuguese champions backed out of it.

Sporting were adamant that he would not leave for €70m plus €10m in add-ons, and the fee was eventually reduced to €63.5m plus €10m after his agency decided to waive their commission. It was a huge sacrifice for Gyökeres to land his dream move.

Gyökeres clearly wanted to join Arsenal after turning down Manchester United and Al Hilal.

Gyökeres had very little time to make an impact in the north London derby loss to Spurs on Thursday, but he should only get better with more minutes on the training pitch. The onus should be on getting him up to speed ahead of the Premier League opener at Old Trafford.

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