Soccer-Gyokeres to face disciplinary action after training absence, says Sporting president
(Reuters) -Sporting President Frederico Varandas has warned that striker Viktor Gyokeres will be fined and asked to apologise to his squad after failing to turn up for pre-season training on time, amid reports of a move away from the Portuguese club.
The 27-year-old Sweden international was due to report for Sporting's training camp in Portugal's southern Algarve region on July 12 after being granted an extended break, according to media reports.
Gyokeres, who scored 54 goals last season, has three years left on his Sporting contract and has been linked with a move to Premier League club Arsenal.
"We're calm. Everything will be resolved with the closing of the market, a heavy fine, and an apology to the group," Varandas told the Lusa news agency on Saturday.
"If they (interested clubs) don't want to pay fair market value for Viktor, we are very comfortable with that for the next three years.
"If the geniuses who are devising this strategy think that this puts pressure on me to facilitate the exit, they are not only completely wrong but are also making the player's exit even more complicated.
"No one is above the club's interests, whoever they may be."
Gyokeres has bagged 97 goals in 102 matches for Sporting since his 2023 move from English second-tier club Coventry City, winning the Primeira Liga title in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
Sporting play Scottish champions Celtic in a friendly match at the Estadio Algarve on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Goa; Editing by Michael Perry)
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