Viktor Gyokeres transfer bombshell emerges following Arsenal talks and Manchester United links

(Image credit: Getty Images)

We’re all kind of dimly aware at the back of our minds that lifestyle choices play a part in footballers’ decisions about whether to accept a transfer move or not, but believe us, it’s a much bigger deal to them.

Clubs’ presentations to players they want to sign will often include a section on why their city is a great place to live for a high-earning young person, and can be particularly vital when it comes to players with more than one option on the table.

Arsenal and Manchester United may need to make sure their slide decks are extra polished if they want to convince Viktor Gyokeres to come to them, then.

Viktor Gyokeres may need to be wooed into leaving beloved Lisbon

Viktor Gyokeres is one of the hottest strikers in Europe. Goals wise, we mean (Image credit: Getty Images)Ranked at no.6 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best strikers in the world right now, Gyokeres is naturally a man in demand after contributing 97 goals and 28 assists for Sporting since joining them from Coventry City in 2023.

United and Arsenal are understandably especially keen on a player who is said to be available for a mere £60m, and the Gunners are reported to have held talks with Gyokeres’ representatives already.

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim already knows Viktor Gyokeres very well (Image credit: Getty Images)The issue, at least according to the Mirror, is that Gyokeres currently lives in Lisbon. We’re not sure if you’ve ever been, but we can confirm it’s pretty great.

Naturally, there’s no shortage of players who have made the move from Portugal to London or Manchester, and we can only assume Gyokeres isn’t too picky because he did after all choose to live in Coventry for two and a half years. (Love you really, Cov. Best pub city in England.)

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Still, it does seem that Gyokeres is particularly enamoured of Lisbon…and his family even more so, to the point they would rather he stayed put.

His uncle Chris said a couple of weeks ago that the family had ‘decided that he has to stay’, while Gyokeres’ girlfriend Ines Aguiar – a Lisbon native – kissed up to Sporting fans by promising to convince lovely Viktor to remain at the club.

Viktor Gyokeres, seen here with two friends, enjoys the social life in Lisbon (Image credit: Getty Images)But what does the man himself think? He told the Scandinavian edition of Vogue exactly that this week, saying: “In Swedish culture, people work hard during the week and if they want to do something, they do it on the weekend.

“Here, people also make the most of the weekdays. They come over with friends on Monday or any other day of the week, have dinner and a glass of wine. In Sweden, that’s rare. That’s the big difference.

“Lisbon is one of the best cities in Europe. I feel at home.”

Yeah, but does it have the best museum in Europe 2025? No, Manchester does. You’ll never sing that…

Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.