Viktor Gyokeres agent reveals Man Utd 'concluded a deal' with Sporting for star striker at 'higher fee' than Arsenal paid

Arsenal won the race for Gyokeres, who went on strike to force through a move to the Emirates in the summer transfer window. The Gunners agreed a reported £64 million fee with Sporting for the powerhouse Sweden international, who scored 39 league goals last season.

Many felt Gyokeres would opt for a move to Old Trafford, where he'd have reunited with former Sporting boss Ruben Amorim. The 27-year-old, though, favoured a move to the capital, turning down the opportunity to link up with the Portuguese boss once more and moving to the Gunners. 

Meanwhile, Manchester United ended up splashing out £74m to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig instead, adding the forward to the squad along with fellow new attackers Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.

Jonathan Chalkias, an assistant to Gyokeres' agent Hasan Cetinkaya, has now claimed that Sporting would have preferred to sell the forward to United, claiming that the Premier League powerhouse had agreed to pay over the odds for the former Coventry man.

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

"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. They (Sporting) had concluded a deal with Manchester United behind our backs, that was a problem. United offered a higher transfer fee."

Gyokeres' efforts to force a move away from Sporting over the summer also drew criticism from Sporting President Frederico Varandas, who condemned the 'strategy' of the player and his entourage in order to secure a summer transfer. Varandas had threatened to hand Gyokeres a 'hefty fine' for his perceived lack of respect towards the defending Liga Portugal champions.

"If 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," Varandas said.

"No one is bigger than the club."

Chalkias, though, hit back at Varandas' criticism, stating: "If (Hugo) Viana were still at Sporting, the deal would have been done within an hour. Everything was written but 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 industry is about trusting people. The sacrifices we made were probably the turning point in getting the deal done. They offered him to Real Madrid, made headlines with Madrid and even United, but from day one there was a commitment to Arsenal."

Gyokeres has made an indifferent start to life at Arsenal having scored just three league goals in his opening seven appearance for the Gunners, two of which came in a resounding home win over Leeds back in August.

Arsenal return to action after the international break against Fulham on Saturday, October 18th, while Manchester United face a huge clash at Anfield against bitter rivals and defending Premier League champions Liverpool.