Viktor Gyokeres’ former mentor ‘would love’ striker to join Premier League club

Anders Limpar says he ‘would love’ to see Sporting sensation Viktor Gyokeres make the next big step in his career by completing a ‘crazy’ move to Arsenal.

Gyokeres’ extraordinary goalscoring exploits in Sporting have established the striker as one of the hottest properties in European football, with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain all credited with a strong interest in recent months.

And while Gyokeres’ current release clause stands at £83million, it’s understood Sporting could be willing to do business for as little as £63m for their prized possession at the end of the season.

Ruben Amorim’s switch from Sporting to Manchester United has only fuelled speculation that Gyokeres could follow suit and join his former manager at Old Trafford before too long.

However, former Arsenal and Sweden midfielder Limpar hopes to see his fellow countryman – a player he once mentored at Brommapojkarna – playing for the Gunners if he were to move on from the Portuguese top flight.

‘I know Gyokeres very well personally, I was a bit of a mentor for him when he played for Brommapojkarna, he and Ludwig Augustinsson. So, I’ve talked a lot about professional life with him,’ Limpar told FotbollDirekt.

‘He’s a fantastically hardworking forward who scores a lot of goals.

If we at Arsenal [were to] buy Gyokeres, then he will definitely call me. But then to see Gyokeres at Arsenal, that would be crazy.

‘His work rate, he runs like a madman. When it doesn’t work out for Viktor, he works his way into the game with uncomfortable runs.

‘When other top forwards aren’t doing well, they don’t work so hard for the team, they save their energy, Viktor never saves his energy. When things are a bit slow, he works his way into a game with runs, that’s why it has gone so well.

Limpar is confident Gyokeres could make the transition into Premier League football based on his recent heroics against Manchester City and his previous spell with Coventry City.

He added: ‘We have to remember that the Portuguese league is inferior to the Premier League, but when Manchester City came to visit Lisbon, he scored a hat-trick, so he’s fully capable of scoring in England.

‘He has played for Coventry and scored goals, he knows the English mentality.

‘I think his next step is to play in the Premier League and he can really choose which team he wants to play in.’

Barcelona were thought to be among the clubs monitoring Gyokeres, with the Sweden international scoring 23 goals in just 18 appearances for Sporting this term.

However, Barca’s sporting director Deco, speaking with Mundo Deportivo earlier this month, played down the rumours, insisting the forward was not among their ‘priorities’.

‘He is a good player, he has been scoring goals for a long time in Portugal,’ Deco said.

‘We know him like others but he is not a priority at the moment and we looking for a No.9 to replace Robert [Lewandowski] because we want him to remain happy, scoring goals and at least stay for another season.

‘We have won things and he is happy to be here. We are not going to talk about any player now.’

The former Chelsea and Portugal midfielder added: ‘Firstly, we would have to know if Haaland is what we want in the future. We don’t know now. Right now we don’t want any No.9,’ he added.

‘We have Robert [Lewandowski]. We’re not planning anything with any No.9.

‘When the time comes to make a decision then I will have to make it because I’m the one at the club. We’ll consider the options. But I don’t think it’s the time to talk about any player.’

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