Evening Standard
·20 November 2024
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·20 November 2024
Anders Limpar has a close relationship with Europe’s hottest property
Viktor Gyokeres's former mentor, Anders Limpar, has told the Sporting Lisbon striker to join Arsenal.
The Swedish star is one of the hottest properties in Europe, and futher boosted his credentials with a four-goal haul for his national team on Tuesday night.
It has taken his tally to a remarkable 32 goals for club and country this season, and prompted links with Manchester United given manager Ruben Amorim has just left Sporting for Old Trafford.
But it is Premier League rivals Arsenal who Gyokeres has been told to join, by former Gunners and Sweden midfielder Limpar.
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"I know Gyokeres very well personally, I was a bit of a mentor for him when he played for Brommapojkarna, he and Ludwig Augustinsson. So, I’ve talked a lot about professional life with him," Limpar told FotbollDirekt.
"He’s a fantastically hardworking forward who scores a lot of goals.
"If we at Arsenal [were to] buy Gyokeres, then he will definitely call me. But then to see Gyokeres at Arsenal, that would be crazy.
"His work rate, he runs like a madman. When it doesn’t work out for Viktor, he works his way into the game with uncomfortable runs.
"When other top forwards aren’t doing well, they don’t work so hard for the team, they save their energy, Viktor never saves his energy. When things are a bit slow, he works his way into a game with runs, that’s why it has gone so well."
Anders Limpar playing for Arsenal in 1992
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Limpar has no concerns over Gyokeres adapting to life in the Premier League, given his time with Coventry City in the Championship.
He added: "We have to remember that the Portuguese league is inferior to the Premier League, but when Manchester City came to visit Lisbon, he scored a hat-trick, so he’s fully capable of scoring in England.
"He has played for Coventry and scored goals, he knows the English mentality. I think his next step is to play in the Premier League and he can really choose which team he wants to play in."