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Rio Ferdinand has urged Viktor Gyokeres to force a transfer away from Sporting CP amid interest from Arsenal and Manchester United. He claimed that the striker needs to make it a 'nightmare' for the club president to get the move he wants.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Ferdinand recalled how he managed to get the move from Leeds United to Manchester United and said he was always on the toes of the club chairman. He added that Gyokeres should do the same if the club is making it hard for him to leave (via METRO):
"I’ll tell you one thing: I would be in his [Varandas’] office, and he wouldn’t be able to leave me. I’d be in his bed, I’d be in his front room, his kitchen, he wouldn’t be able to get me out of his sight. I’d be causing him a nightmare to get out if we’d had an agreement."
"I did that when I was at Leeds. I heard that Manchester United were interested in me and I knew had to let me go. I went to Peter Ridsdale and said, “Listen, I know you need to sell me, let’s not haggle over a couple of million here and there, and let’s get a deal done”, and I was there for hours waiting and ended up getting it done.’"
Arsenal have launched a move for Gyokeres after talks with Benjamin Sesko stalled. Manchester United are also keeping tabs after losing out on Liam Delap to Chelsea.
Rio Ferdinand not sure if Arsenal target is the right player for Manchester United
Rio Ferdinand spoke about Viktor Gyokeres and claimed that he was unsure if the Arsenal target was the ideal addition to the Manchester United squad. He said that the striker could struggle with the physicality of the Premier League (via METRO):
"Is he the right guy? Listen, he has some really good attributes. I’ve not seen enough of him to be totally convinced. The games I have seen him in, in the Champions League against players that match him up physically, I’d love to see a bit more."
"But there’s no denying that he knows where the goal is. He’s playing in Portugal where he’s been banging in and setting up goals left, right and centre the last couple of years. I just think for Manchester United, at this moment in time, I would go for experience more than anything."
Sporting CP have insisted that they will not let Gyokeres leave for €70 million this summer. The striker has a €100 million release clause in his contract.
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Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.
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Edited by Yash Singh