Viktor Gyokeres says he will be forever thankful to Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim as Arsenal work on completing a deal to sign the Sporting CP striker.
Speculation over the 27-year-old’s future appears to be coming to an end as Arsenal are close to agreeing an €80 million (£69m) deal with Sporting worth €65m (£56m), plus a further €15m (£13m) in add-ons.
Arsenal have faced plenty of competition for Gyokeres’ signature this summer with Juventus, Chelsea and Manchester United all making an approach for the Sweden international.
United are unable to offer European football to Gyokeres, however, the prospect of reuniting with Amorim at Old Trafford may have given Arsenal cause for concern.
Gyokeres thrived under Amorim’s guidance in his first season at Sporting and the Swede believes the 40-year-old’s playing style helped his adaptation to life in Portugal.
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‘I came here, it’s been great since day one, I’ve developed a lot here with the team,’ Gyokeres said in an interview with France Football.
‘We have a lot of amazing memories together as a team, winning two championships in a row, for the first time in 71 years I think it is, it’s an amazing achievement.
‘Of course, Amorim played a big part of this because he was the one who really wanted me here and his style of football that we played under him suited me very well, I think.
‘I can’t thank him enough.’
Amorim guided Sporting to their first league title in 19 years last year and Gyokeres played a major role in the team’s success with 43 goals in his first season with the Portuguese club.
Sporting then lost Amorim to Manchester United last November but the team went on to win the league and cup double under new head coach Rui Borges.
Asked if he found Amorim’s departure difficult to deal with, Gyokeres replied: ‘Yeah, of course, it was a shock in the beginning.
‘It was in the middle of the season, we had games coming up, it had never happened to me before to have a coach leaving in the middle of a season when things are going very well, we didn’t lose a single game.
‘Yeah, I was surprised but I totally understand his decision, there was no hard feelings at all from the team, we all understood it, we moved on and we managed to win the league anyway.’
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