Sporting issue statement to Arsenal and confirm Viktor Gyokeres decision

Sporting CP have warned Arsenal they will not be forced into selling Viktor Gyokeres after confirming the striker will be disciplined for failing to turn up for pre-season training.

Gyokeres was asked to join up with the Sporting squad before 5pm on Saturday before they set off for their pre-season camp in the Algarve.

As expected, he failed to turn up with the squad and staff leaving without him.

The Sweden international has told Sporting he does not intend to return to the club this summer, desperate to secure a move to Arsenal.

Sporting have taken a hard line approach over Gyokeres’ sale having denied the existence of a gentlemen’s agreement over what fee he could leave for this summer.

Instead, Sporting president Frederico Varandas is demanding €70million (£60.2m) plus €10m in add-ons.

Arsenal have already seen at least one offer rejected with the move reported to have been on the verge of collapsing this week.

Following the striker’s refusal to join his teammates on Saturday night, Varandas released a statement blasting the ‘geniuses’ who think they can pressure the Portuguese champions into selling their prized asset.

The Sporting president confirmed Gyokeres will be punished with ‘a heavy fine’, adding they will be happy to keep him at the club heading into the new season if the right offer does not come in.

‘If the geniuses who are devising this strategy think this puts pressure on me to facilitate an exit, they are not only completely wrong but are also making the player’s exit conditions even more complicated,’ Varandas said.

‘No one is above the interests of the club, whoever they are.

‘If they don’t want to pay for Viktor fair market value, we are perfectly comfortable with this for the next three years [the time left on Gyokeres’ contract].

‘We are calm about all this. Everything can be resolved with a market closure, a heavy fine, and an apology to the group.’