Sports
Why I Chose Arsenal – Goykeres
Viktor Gyokeres has said that he decided to sign for Arsenal after the Gunners thrashed his Sporting side 5-1 in the Champions League last season.
The 27-year-old Sweden striker has joined Arsenal in a deal worth up to 73m euros (£64m) on a five-year contract.
The move was held up because of negotiations between the clubs over additional payments, with the final agreement consisting of a 63m euro initial fee plus 10m euros in add-ons.
Gyokeres was in the Sporting side dismantled by Mikel Arteta’s team in the group stage of Europe’s top competition in November.
“I just felt it was the right club for me,” said Gyokeres. “What I heard from Mikel and [sporting director] Andrea Berta and just what I’ve seen in the past years, how they’ve been playing football.
“When I played against Arsenal last season, I could really feel it was a very strong team and very difficult to play against.
“That made me choose Arsenal, and of course all the history the club has and the massive fan base.”
The move takes Arsenal’s summer spending up to about £204m, following the arrivals of Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke and Cristhian Mosquera.
“Viktor has so many qualities. He is a quick and powerful presence up front, with incredible goalscoring numbers at club and international levels,” said Gunners boss Arteta.
“He brings a clinical edge with a high conversion rate of chances into goals, with his intelligent movement in the box making him a constant threat.
“We’re excited about what Viktor brings to our squad and are looking forward to starting working with him.”
It was revealed at the start of the month how Arteta’s side had turned their attentions to Gyokeres after hitting an impasse in their bid to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig.
Gunners sporting director Andrea Berta flew to Lisbon to lead negotiations with the Portuguese club.
The deal concludes the long-running saga over Gyokeres’ future, after he was linked with Manchester United earlier this summer.
Gyokeres failed to report back at Sporting for pre-season earlier this month, and the club’s president Frederico Varandas said the player would face disciplinary action.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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