Viktor Gyokeres Defends Sweden Team-mate Alexander Isak After Liverpool Transfer Saga

Viktor Gyokeres has leapt to the defence of Sweden team-mate Alexander Isak following his summer-long transfer saga that ended in his move to Liverpool. 

Isak put pen to paper on a six-year deal with the Premier League champions on deadline day, arriving at Anfield for a reported £125m fee, which is a British transfer record. 

The 25-year-old's standoff with previous club Newcastle United was the story of the transfer window, with Isak exiled from the Magpies' squad as he pushed for a move away. 

Isak suggested that Newcastle had broken promises about the possibility of leaving, with his statement coming after Newcastle turned down an initial bid of £110m from Liverpool.

Gyokeres also found himself in a similar situation before completing his £63.5m (€73.5m) switch to Arsenal from Sporting CP earlier this summer. 

The Swede faced disciplinary action from his former club after failing to turn up for training at Sporting as he pushed for a move to the Premier League.

In response to a question on "player power," after both strikers pushed for their transfers, Gyokeres insisted that not everyone gets their way.

"I congratulated Isak for the move," Gyokeres said. "I don't really know the situation exactly, so it's difficult for me to speak about that.

"When it's a player that is not wanted in a club, I think it's the total opposite. He doesn't have any power, the club can literally do whatever they want."

Away from talk surrounding their respective summer switches, Gyokeres was asked about his relationship with Isak ahead of their upcoming World Cup qualifying fixtures. 

Sweden get their qualification campaign underway this Friday with a trip to Slovenia before travelling to Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri to take on Kosovo three days later. 

Gyokeres has scored 15 goals in 26 appearances for his country, one less than Isak, though the latter has appeared in exactly double the number of games for Sweden.

Sweden failed to qualify for the 2022 edition of the World Cup in Qatar, but Gyokeres believes the team have the quality to put the right this time around. 

"It's always good to have good players in the national team," Gyokeres added.

"We, of course, want to reach the World Cup next year and if we have the best players available in the team, that's of course going to help.

"We played a few games together and felt good. He's scored, I've scored and we've assisted each other. I think it's good to keep going and improve more with the team."