Sporting CP vice-president Francisco Salgado Zenha has given a quick response to reports Arsenal have made a bid for Viktor Gyokeres.
The Gunners failed in their objective to win trophies this season despite a promising start in the Premier League and a run to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Arsenal didn’t get near Liverpool in the second half of the Premier League season with Mikel Arteta’s side having to play the final few months of the campaign without a fit senior striker.
Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz picked up season-ending injuries towards the start of the year with midfielder Mikel Merino stepping in as a makeshift striker.
A new striker was one of their priorities for the transfer window anyway with a consensus among fans that they need a top-class centre-forward to decide tight games.
Sporting CP’s Gyokeres, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak have been among the strikers rumoured to be of interest to Arsenal.
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A report in Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha earlier on Wednesday claimed that officials from Arsenal had flown to Lisbon to tie up a deal for Gyokeres, who has scored 97 goals in 102 appearances since swapping Coventry for the Portuguese outfit in 2023.
It was understood that as part of those talks with Gyokeres’ agent Hasan Cetinkaya, the Gunners presented an offer of €70m (£59m).
But Sporting CP vice-president Zenha has rejected that there have been any bids put to them for Gyokeres and pointed towards the Sweden international’s three years left on his contract.
Zenha told reporters: “He has three more years on his contract. At the moment, there are no offers, he has three more years on his contract. I think the answer has been given. [Sporting’s transfer plans] won’t be any different from last year.
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“We want to keep the best players and retain talent. We want to continue to be champions, have competitive teams and fight on all fronts.
“I have been in this role for seven years. In the years when Sporting were champions, we even made fewer sales than in other years … the fact that we are champions gives us a greater ability to retain players and talent.
“Coincidence or not, we have not had to sell any players in those times. Not that we have not received offers, but the market is not under our control, we are always dependent.”