It expands on the original report about Manchester City signing Viktor Gyökeres for £55 million, the fact he rejected 14 clubs to join Pep Guardiola, and the personal reasons behind his choice.
In the summer of 2025, when the football transfer market was full of rumours, gossip, and tension, a single piece of news exploded like thunder and lit up the sky over Manchester. It was the kind of story that made fans stand still with their mouths open. Manchester City had reached an agreement to sign Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres for a fee of £55 million. It wasn’t only about the amount, the paperwork, the contract, or the wages. It was the reason he chose City that made the world stop and stare. Because Viktor Gyökeres, with offers raining down on him from across Europe, from some of the world’s biggest and most glamorous clubs, rejected no fewer than 14 clubs just so he could play under Pep Guardiola—and the twist behind this decision left everyone shocked.
For months, City’s recruitment team had been working in secret. They watched as Gyökeres tore apart the Portuguese league with Sporting CP. He scored 29 goals and delivered 11 assists in all competitions in the last season. At just 26 years old, he had emerged as one of Europe’s most complete forwards. Strong, quick, intelligent, determined, good on the ball, good off it, unselfish when needed and clinical when it mattered. Clubs lined up for him like suitors in a grand courtship. Arsenal wanted him. AC Milan dreamed of him. Atlético Madrid tried to tempt him. Borussia Dortmund circled, whispering promises of guaranteed minutes and Champions League football. Bundesliga giants, Serie A royalty, even clubs in La Liga known for their glamour sent delegations to Portugal. He turned them all down.
To football agents and analysts, it was madness. What made it even stranger was that Manchester City, despite their wealth and prestige, was not necessarily the most obvious choice at that moment. Erling Haaland was their undisputed star striker. Julian Álvarez was waiting in the wings. Many argued Gyökeres risked spending time on the bench, fighting for minutes. Yet he chose them. And he didn’t just choose them—he rejected everyone else to do so.
As the papers finalised, people close to the deal started talking. The world learned the true reason. It wasn’t about the Premier League trophy cabinet. Not the mega salary City could offer. Not the world-famous manager, though Pep certainly helped. The real answer was surprisingly personal, and it revolved around a man many football fans couldn’t even name off the top of their head: Juanma Lillo.
Juanma Lillo, Pep Guardiola’s trusted assistant, was not a global celebrity like Pep. He didn’t do the big press conferences or write best-selling books. He wasn’t a brand. But he was a philosopher of football, someone Pep himself once described as a mentor. Lillo’s ideas about space, movement, pressing, and build-up play were admired by a certain kind of football purist. And one of those admirers, it turned out, was Viktor Gyökeres.
Insiders said that Gyökeres had followed Lillo’s coaching career since he was a teenager. He studied his tactical systems, watched the teams he coached—even obscure ones—and dreamed of one day playing under his guidance. The story went even deeper. Earlier this year, before any formal negotiations, Gyökeres and Lillo met informally. Not in a boardroom or fancy restaurant. Not in front of agents or cameras. It was just two football obsessives talking about the game they loved. Lillo explained how he saw Gyökeres fitting into City’s ultra-fluid attacking system, a system built on positional rotations, coordinated pressing, and collective intelligence. He described how Viktor’s pressing, ball retention, hold-up play, and selfless movement were exactly what City wanted—not just as a backup, but as a new dimension in attack.
That conversation, it was said, moved Gyökeres deeply. He didn’t see it as a sales pitch but as a dream coming true. He didn’t want to be a mercenary jumping for the highest salary. He wanted to learn, grow, master the craft. Even with Haaland in the squad, Gyökeres believed he could thrive. And so he told his agents: Forget the money, forget the promises of minutes, forget the status. I want City.
Negotiations with Sporting CP were not easy. Sporting wanted top dollar, aware they were losing their star. City, in their usual calm, methodical style, didn’t panic. They knew the player was determined. In the end, £55 million was agreed. It was expensive, but not outrageous in a market where average defenders sold for £40 million. City paid it without fuss. Pep Guardiola was delighted. He always admired strikers who did more than
