Football General Manager
- Gyokeres joins Arsenal after sensational season
- Forward struggled at Coventry before Sporting switch
- Fulham boss says many teams were after him
The Fulham head coach shared his thoughts on Gyokeres — who sealed his transfer to Arsenal from Sporting CP over the weekend — and revealed that multiple mid-table sides from the Premier League sides took notice of the Swede following his exploits at Coventry City in the Championship. In what was a major revelation, Fulham, too, were interested in signing him, according to Silva.
Gyokeres spent two-and-a-half seasons at Coventry City. He was sent on loan by Brighton in the second half of the 2020-21 season, scoring three goals in 19 Championship games. The Sky Blues permanently signed him, and the move paid off handsomely, as Gyokeres scored 40 goals in 97 games across the next two seasons. His 21 goals in the 2022-23 season in the league earned him a place in the EFL Championship Team of the Season and a move to Sporting CP, where he truly emerged as one of the deadliest strikers in Europe. During his two-year stay in Lisbon, the 27-year-old scored an incredible 97 goals in just 102 appearances. He was particularly impressive in the Champions League in the 2024-25 campaign, with his standout performance coming against Manchester City as he scored a breathtaking hat-trick.
Speaking in an interview with Canal 11 Silva revealed that Premier League clubs had Gyokeres on their radar, with Fulham also considering signing him at one point. He said: “This story that no one had noticedu0026nbsp;Gyokeres, that’s all talk. The top clubs in England didn’t notice, that’s obvious. It’s not easy for a player to go from Coventry to the top clubs in England, and at that time, he wasn’t ready to go there. Now, the mid-table clubs in England had all noticed, and so much so that there were some offers to buy Gyokeres, at least in those two years when he stood out a bit more.
“I ended up speaking to Gyokeres’ agent, or the club ended up speaking to Gyokeres’ agent, at a time when… but we also had a world-class striker in [Aleksandar] Mitrovic, who wasn’t that easy to replace. But we naturally noticed, not just because of the goals he scored, but he was a player who clearly stood out in space… a player with immense power, there’s no hiding it. He was a player who already had a good finishing ability, which, in my opinion, greatly improved that aspect of his game. Now he’s a player who, even with the way Coventry played at the time, with space and against higher-lying teams, and with that space in behind that he likes so much, between centre-back and wing-back, the way he likes to attack space, was a player who made a huge difference, naturally. That season when he played against Fulham, we normally had 60 to 70 per cent possession, and it was clearly the ideal match for him to play against.”
The Gunners paid £64 million (€74m/$86m) to sign Gyokeres as Mikel Arteta finally acquired the missing piece in his squad. The Swedish international will don the iconic No.14, made famous by Thierry Henry. He was presented to Arsenal fans in Singapore during the team’s friendly clash against Newcastle United on Sunday. Arteta did not provide a definitive timeline regarding when Gyokeres could make his first appearance, but also did not entirely rule out the possibility of playing him in the upcoming summer friendlies. Nonetheless, one can expect him to be fit in time for their opening game in the Premier League against rivals Manchester United on August 17.
