Jose Mourinho gives honest Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal transfer verdict after £64m breakthrough

Jose Mourinho heaped praise on Viktor Gyokeres ahead of a potential transfer to Arsenal. Andrea Berta appears to have finally landed the 27-year-old striker, who was heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium for much of the summer.

football.london understands that the Gunners have reached a verbal agreement with Sporting for the signing of Gyokeres. Last week, Arsenal agreed a deal in principle worth €63.5m (£55m), plus €10m (£8.7m) in add-ons, before Andrea Berta and the Portuguese champions discussed the structure.

While the Arsenal sporting director finalised the transfer, it's understood that Sporting had been fielding approaches from other clubs. Manchester United were considered a potential suitor, as were teams in the Saudi Pro League, but the Sweden international's stance was clear: he only wanted to join the north London outfit.

Once the final details are wrapped up, Gyokeres will undergo a medical. He will then fulfil his media responsibilities with Arsenal before his highly-anticipated transfer is announced.

In an interview with Portuguese outlet A Bola ahead of the Swede's unveiling, Mourinho was quizzed on the transfer. The former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur boss put rivalry aside to heap praise on the prospective Arsenal star.

"Gyokeres is a great player, I have no doubt about that," said Mourinho. "Now, Sporting had a way of playing largely around him or adapted to him; I don't know what Hugo Viana and Ruben Amorim's initial thinking was.

"But he's a player with great potential; it's clear that in England he'll play against stronger teams and better players. Unfortunately, of the 3,400 lies that have been told about the transfer market, the one that's the one that says he's not going to Fenerbahçe is the lie.

"So many lies, so much interest, so many people working for agents, for clubs - it's a war that's not mine," added Mourinho, who had slammed the Portuguese top flight earlier in the interview. "It's not competitive.

"When I left Roma, I spent half a dozen months in Portugal and went to Luz and Alvalade several times. I often saw Benfica and Sporting against teams in the bottom half of the league; it's not competitive.

"What can be done? I don't know, I'm out of the loop, I don't know if centralising television rights could better balance the playing field, but when we look at budgets, transfer markets, incoming players...

"I think we're talking about a very, very unequal battle. The big three are the big three, and of course SC Braga is growing and growing with all due merit, but FC Porto, Benfica, and Sporting still have a significant gap."

Mourinho added: "The season hasn't started yet, and it's far from over. The transfer windows have just opened, and everything is very stagnant. Who's going to leave, who's going to come?

"There are key players in all three teams. The FC Porto president has already said he's going to make a big splash in the transfer market, and things will certainly improve significantly.

"Sporting is going to the Champions League, millions are coming in, whether Gyokeres leaves or not... how Benfica will operate in the transfer market. There are a number of factors that are completely impossible to predict at this point, because I think transfer windows are always crucial."

Arsenal are also expected to soon announce the signing of Cristhian Mosquera, who has travelled to Asia to join Mikel Arteta's squad.

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