Sporting man signed for Arsenal just in time for 28-year trophy first

Arsenal are poised to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting, but he’s not the first player to have travelled in the same direction. That honour belongs to Luis Boa Morte, who was snapped up by the Gunners in 1997 for £1.75million. Boa Morte caught the eye of Wenger at an international tournamentGetty Boa Morte cut his teeth in the academy of his hometown club, but it was a strong performance at the Toulon Tournament for Portugal that piqued Arsenal’s interest. The competing Portuguese team went all the way to the final but were beaten 2-1 by France at the last hurdle. When Arsenal’s interest was first put to him, a fresh-faced Boa Morte felt it was a cruel prank. “When they contacted me, I thought they were joking,” Boa Morte told Portuguese publication O Jogo. “The truth is, I didn’t really want to go to England. My desire was to stay at Sporting and reach the first team. “But they didn’t want to review my contract at that time, and there was only that solution.” So off Boa Morte went to the bright lights of the Premier League, where he would be guided by legendary manager Arsene Wenger. Given he was being thrust into a new and cut-throat environment, it was a daunting leap for Boa Morte to make. But speaking to VAVEL, Wenger’s paternal influence proved pivotal in helping Boa Morte settle. “Wenger was like a dad for me, it was really important with the way he was helping me on and off the pitch,” Boa Morte said. Wenger played an important pastoral role to help Boa Morte settle inGetty “Even before I signed, he spoke to me. They had patience with me, and they helped me. I can’t complain because things went well for me.” But if making the move to England as a youngster wasn’t tough enough, Boa Morte had to contend with some serious star power in his first training sessions. “I arrive at Arsenal and I’m there with David Seaman, Tony Adams, Dennis Bergkamp, Ian Wright… there was a lot of quality,” Boa Morte said. “Suddenly, I’m right there among them. These things I was not expecting and had to get used to fast.” How did Arsenal do after signing the Sporting star? Boa Morte was handed his debut for the Gunners early into the 1997/1998 campaign, as he came on as a substitute against Southampton in August 1997. The left-sided midfielder went on to feature 21 times for Arsenal across all competitions in his first season at the club and scored just twice, with both goals coming in the League Cup. Boa Morte made a total of 37 appearances for the Gunners and scored four goalsGetty Although he may not have scored in other competitions, Boa Morte played his role in helping Arsenal achieve a feat not seen since 1971. The 1997/98 campaign saw the Gunners complete the double, as they edged out Manchester United to the Premier League title by a solitary point. Wenger also guided Arsenal to FA Cup glory as they beat Newcastle 2-0 in the final. Unfortunately for Boa Morte, he found it tricky to break into the starting lineup at Highbury and ultimately moved on to Southampton in 1999. But no matter how the rest of his career panned out, Boa Morte will forever be involved with one of two Arsenal squads to have done the double in the last 35 years. Thanks to Boa Morte’s immediate silverware collection with Arsenal, it means the bar is set high for Gyokeres. What is Viktor Gyokeres bringing to Arsenal? The Swedish marksman is all set to join after Arsenal struck a €63.5million [£55m] deal with €10m [£8.7m] in add-ons with Sporting for his services. Once the deal is official, Gyokeres will become just the second player to move directly from Sporting to Arsenal since Boa Morte. But there will be vastly higher expectations placed on Gyokeres given the money involved in his deal and his remarkable goalscoring form. In the 2024/25 campaign, Gyokeres bagged an absurd 54 goals in 52 games across all competitions as Sporting did the double of winning the Primeira Liga and the Taca de Portugal, the nation’s equivalent of the FA Cup. Time will tell if he can follow in Boa Morte’s footsteps and enjoy a similar stream of silverware at Arsenal.

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Sporting man signed for Arsenal just in time for 28-year trophy first

Arsenal are poised to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting, but he’s not the first player to have travelled in the same direction.

That honour belongs to Luis Boa Morte, who was snapped up by the Gunners in 1997 for £1.75million.

Boa Morte caught the eye of Wenger at an international tournament

Boa Morte cut his teeth in the academy of his hometown club, but it was a strong performance at the Toulon Tournament for Portugal that piqued Arsenal’s interest.

The competing Portuguese team went all the way to the final but were beaten 2-1 by France at the last hurdle.

When Arsenal’s interest was first put to him, a fresh-faced Boa Morte felt it was a cruel prank.

“When they contacted me, I thought they were joking,” Boa Morte told Portuguese publication O Jogo.

“The truth is, I didn’t really want to go to England. My desire was to stay at Sporting and reach the first team.

“But they didn’t want to review my contract at that time, and there was only that solution.”

So off Boa Morte went to the bright lights of the Premier League, where he would be guided by legendary manager Arsene Wenger.

Given he was being thrust into a new and cut-throat environment, it was a daunting leap for Boa Morte to make.

But speaking to VAVEL, Wenger’s paternal influence proved pivotal in helping Boa Morte settle.

“Wenger was like a dad for me, it was really important with the way he was helping me on and off the pitch,” Boa Morte said.

Wenger played an important pastoral role to help Boa Morte settle in

“Even before I signed, he spoke to me. They had patience with me, and they helped me. I can’t complain because things went well for me.”

But if making the move to England as a youngster wasn’t tough enough, Boa Morte had to contend with some serious star power in his first training sessions.

“I arrive at Arsenal and I’m there with David Seaman, Tony Adams, Dennis Bergkamp, Ian Wright… there was a lot of quality,” Boa Morte said.

“Suddenly, I’m right there among them. These things I was not expecting and had to get used to fast.”

How did Arsenal do after signing the Sporting star?

Boa Morte was handed his debut for the Gunners early into the 1997/1998 campaign, as he came on as a substitute against Southampton in August 1997.

The left-sided midfielder went on to feature 21 times for Arsenal across all competitions in his first season at the club and scored just twice, with both goals coming in the League Cup.

Boa Morte made a total of 37 appearances for the Gunners and scored four goals

Although he may not have scored in other competitions, Boa Morte played his role in helping Arsenal achieve a feat not seen since 1971.

The 1997/98 campaign saw the Gunners complete the double, as they edged out Manchester United to the Premier League title by a solitary point.

Wenger also guided Arsenal to FA Cup glory as they beat Newcastle 2-0 in the final.

Unfortunately for Boa Morte, he found it tricky to break into the starting lineup at Highbury and ultimately moved on to Southampton in 1999.

But no matter how the rest of his career panned out, Boa Morte will forever be involved with one of two Arsenal squads to have done the double in the last 35 years.

Thanks to Boa Morte’s immediate silverware collection with Arsenal, it means the bar is set high for Gyokeres.

What is Viktor Gyokeres bringing to Arsenal?

The Swedish marksman is all set to join after Arsenal struck a €63.5million [£55m] deal with €10m [£8.7m] in add-ons with Sporting for his services.

Once the deal is official, Gyokeres will become just the second player to move directly from Sporting to Arsenal since Boa Morte.

But there will be vastly higher expectations placed on Gyokeres given the money involved in his deal and his remarkable goalscoring form.

In the 2024/25 campaign, Gyokeres bagged an absurd 54 goals in 52 games across all competitions as Sporting did the double of winning the Primeira Liga and the Taca de Portugal, the nation’s equivalent of the FA Cup.

Time will tell if he can follow in Boa Morte’s footsteps and enjoy a similar stream of silverware at Arsenal.