Fabrizio Romano confirms Man Utd had agreement to sign Arsenal ace

Fabrizio Romano has verified a claim made by the agent of an Arsenal star about Manchester United forging an agreement to sign the player.

The summer window saw many of the Premier League’s leading sides spend heavily and a sizeable chunk of their investments came in the striker position.

Liverpool set a new British record when landing Alexander Isak for £125m. Chelsea bought Joao Pedro and Liam Delap, Newcastle hoovered up Nick Woltemade in a club-record deal, while Arsenal signed Viktor Gyokeres and Man Utd acquired Benjamin Sesko.

The Red Devils were in the frame for Gyokeres prior to signing Sesko, but you might not realise just how advanced that move was.

It was widely reported at the time that Sporting were pushing Gyokeres to sign for Man Utd instead of Arsenal as the Swede’s career in Portugal came to a crossroads.

Man Utd had offered more favourable payment terms and relations between Sporting and Arsenal were strained.

And according to Gyokeres’ agent, Sporting and Man Utd actually sealed a club-to-club agreement.

That claim has now been verified by transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano, who revealed all on his YouTube channel.

“The agent of Viktor Gyokeres, Hasan Cetinkaya, in an interview in the last 48 hours explained about the crazy story around Gyokeres,” began Romano.

“One of the sentences is important to bring you behind the scenes of the market. He said ‘behind our back, Sporting concluded a deal with Manchester United for Viktor Gyokeres while we had an agreement with Arsenal.’

“That’s the reality. At some point Sporting were insisting and pushing to offer Gyokeres to Man Utd and to get the deal done for less money from Man Utd than Arsenal in terms of fixed fee, but with better bonuses.

“United were ready to make the deal. For United it was okay, but the problem was always the player. Gyokeres, with all respect for Man Utd, wanted to go to Arsenal and made this desire very clear.

“So Gyokeres didn’t want to move to Man Utd and Gyokeres’ dream was Arsenal. But Sporting were pushing like crazy. There were three or four days where Sporting tried in every way to close the deal for Gyokeres to Man Utd, almost forcing the opportunity.

“But Gyokeres decided to wait, to resist, to be patient and then to join Arsenal as he wanted to do.”

Gyokeres would ultimately join Arsenal for £55m plus £8.5m in add-ons. With the Swede off the table, United fixed their gaze on Sesko and beat Newcastle to his signature to the tune of £66.3m plus £7.7m in add-ons.

READ MORE: Comparing Ruben Amorim’s first 50 Man Utd games with Mikel Arteta’s at Arsenal

VOTE: How many goals will Gyokeres score this season? ⬇️

Latest Man Utd & Arsenal news

🔴⚫️ Ruben Amorim says YES to £60m Man Utd move for Premier League star he’s a ‘huge fan’ of

🔴⚫️ Amorim to make Man Utd all-out attack as insider reveals all on next signings

🔴⚪️ £27m Arsenal star heading for SHOCK exit after ‘pay rise’ as journalist reveals Andrea Berta plans for TWO midfielders

🔴⚪️ Arsenal break the bank as stunning numbers in Raya, Timber, Saka deals revealed