Even with his Arsenal move complete, Viktor Gyökeres is still responding to criticism over the way he left Sporting – and this time, he’s doing it himself.
In a press conference covered by Swedish outlet [**Aftonbladet**](https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/a/kw79na/viktor-gyokeres-tydliga-svar-efter-kritiken), the striker pushed back at those who questioned his professionalism or suggested he disrespected the Lisbon club.
_“There are a lot of people out there who have strong opinions about things they don’t really know,”_ he said. _“Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but it’s impossible to please everyone. I don’t feel I need to prove anything to people who have no insight into what actually happened.”_
Gyökeres admitted the process was messy, but insisted there wasn’t much he could have done differently.
_“It was tough. We waited a long time at one point, but I’m happy it was finalised in time and I got to be part of the pre-season,”_ he said. _“Of course it was a shame how it ended, but that’s how it went this time. Sometimes life is like that.”_
Asked why he didn’t return to Sporting after his holiday, Gyökeres avoided specifics: _“I was in negotiations and the holiday was extended because of that. I don’t want to go into details about why I didn’t come back.”_
Despite the public tension between him and Sporting president Frederico Varandas, the striker downplayed any ongoing rift. _“Not much contact, but I got a message. That’s normal in football. They did what they thought was best for Sporting, and I fully understand that. No hard feelings from me.”_
Now focused on settling into Arsenal, Gyökeres was also asked about recent criticism from former Gunners player Fredrik Ljungberg, who questioned the team’s defensive posture in a narrow loss to Liverpool.
_“It’s easy to talk about a game when you’re not on the pitch,”_ he replied. _“We defended well, they didn’t have many chances. Sure, we wanted to do more offensively, but you can’t do everything perfectly every match.”_
With the transfer saga behind him, the striker seems determined to move forward. But as long as questions linger in Lisbon, Gyökeres may find that his version of the story will need to be told more than once.