Rio Ferdinand fires warning to Ruben Amorim after Man Utd target leaves him unimpressed
Manchester United have been heavily linked with Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres since Ruben Amorim left the Portuguese champions to take up a new role at Old Trafford
Rio Ferdinand has questioned whether Viktor Gyokeres would be a success in the Premier League after watching him blank against Arsenal.
The Sporting Lisbon star has been in red-hot form for the Portuguese champions since joining on a free transfer nearly 18 months ago and has been linked with both the Gunners and Manchester United recently.
Gyokeres plundered an impressive hat-trick when Sporting triumphed over Manchester City in the Champions League last month. But it was a different story for the Sweden international on Tuesday night, where he was well marshalled by Gabriel and William Saliba as Arsenal cantered to a 5-1 win in Lisbon.
Ferdinand was analysing the match for TNT Sports - and he wasn't ultra impressed with the striker, who has been tipped to follow Ruben Amorim to Old Trafford.
Ferdinand said post-match: “His strengths played into the strengths of the two central defenders he was up against and that’s what he’d find in the Premier League week in week out. Two big strong centre halves the majority of the time. Can he deal with them?
“It wasn’t until Gabriel went off that he actually got a bit of joy against Kiwior, a player who’s not as big and not as strong. These two centre halve are the best as a partnership and they didn’t give him an ounce the whole game. He’s been crucifying teams in those areas running the channels, these guys look supremely comfortable in doing that.
“Have I seen enough to say he can come to the Premier League and be a success? I’m not saying he wouldn’t, but I’m saying you’d need to see more than what we saw today.”
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Arsenal were heavily linked with Gyokeres back in the summer transfer window and, like United, are expected to sign a striker at some point between January and the start of the 2025-26 campaign.
Arteta was giving little away on Gyokeres, though, when he was asked for his thoughts on the striker pre-match. He said in his press conference: “I would like to talk about the team, about the coaches and how phenomenal they have been.
“The run they are in is incredible. I understand the question but they have a lot of individual qualities. And yes in the specific position they have great players.”
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