Gyokeres is ‘completely forgotten’: Arsenal striker rocked by harsh truth

Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres has been told that he has been “completely forgotten” by former club Sporting CP due to the exploits of Luis Suarez.

The Swede forced his way out of the Lisbon club in the summer to complete a big-money move to Arsenal after tearing Portuguese football to shreds. Gyokeres scored a scarcely believable 97 goals in 102 appearances while also providing 28 assists at Sporting CP.

His transfer saga was unfortunately an ugly divorce after a wonderful two years in Portugal, where he could have become one of the greatest players in Primeira Liga history had he opted to stay long-term.

In hindsight, remaining would not have been so bad, as he has struggled to find his feet at Arsenal. While his return of nine goals in 27 goals is far from terrible, Gyokeres has not hit the heights expected of him and has come in for fierce criticism from English pundits.

The Swede scored against Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday, but his goal was overshadowed by Gabriel Jesus’ brace. The Brazilian looks like he hasn’t missed a beat despite spending a year out injured with an ACL injury – and this doesn’t bode well for Gyokeres.

Sporting don’t miss Gyokeres

However, Gabriel Jesus wasn’t the only player who stole Gyokeres’ limelight on Tuesday. Sporting CP striker Luis Suarez – Gyokeres’ replacement in Lisbon – netted twice in a famous victory over defending champions PSG.

Suarez has made Sporting completely forget about Gyokeres. The 28-year-old has notched 22 goals and six assists in 30 appearances this season, and Sporting do not miss their former striker at all.

Carlos Severino, a former presidential candidate for Sporting, told Record after Sporting’s triumph: “A historic victory, with intelligent tactics from Sporting, giving the ball to the opponent and relying on dangerous counter-attacks… Luis Suarez completely made us forget Gyokeres.

“This victory takes Sporting into the direct qualification zone, and we’ll see if they can stay there. But it’s a historic feat, which reminded me of a game I saw when I was a kid, when Sporting beat Man Utd 5-0, after losing 4-1 away.

“Sporting demonstrated that they can compete with any team in the world.”

Football transfer news headlines today

EXCLUSIVE: Jean-Philippe Mateta agrees Aston Villa terms as Chelsea make contact

EXCLUSIVE: Man Utd hold talks over Rashford return and target €75m Spain star

DONE DEALS: Every official completed transfer around Europe today

TRANSFER RUMOURS: Man Utd launch bid for Barca star as Arsenal eye Real Madrid raid

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers’ new app for all of football’s big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•Google Play

•App Store