The signing of Gyokeres was one of the longest running transfers of the summer and it was held up in the final week while Arsenal and Sporting negotiated over the add-ons to the transfer fee.
Sporting’s club president Frederico Varandas also said that Gyokeres faced disciplinary action after failing to report for training, while every stage of the deal created a lot of fan interest.
“It’s been a new experience. I haven’t really been in that situation before,” Gyokeres said.
“It’s been a lot of waiting from my side. I wanted to come here, but it wasn’t that easy. But I’m finally here and it feels great.
“I tried to train as much as possible by myself and keep the day going. A lot of days were the same kind of routine.
“I woke up, trained, had dinner and then went to bed again. It was like that for a few weeks, but it was worth it for sure.”
His new manager Arteta has spoken about the excitement that he and the players have about the signing of the Sweden international and Gyokeres says he felt “that they wanted me here”.
He added: “Also because it’s a very big club with a lot of history. I just felt that I really wanted to come here and be a part of this club.
“I think you can always have a decision of your future. Of course there were other clubs as well, but I didn’t feel it was a difficult choice for me this time.”
Gyokeres scored 97 goals in 102 appearances for Sporting and registered 26 assists and although the striker backs himself to succeed in the Premier League, he thinks there will be a period of transititon.
“I think I’ll have to adapt. But I think there are a lot of players from Portugal who have done even better in England. It depends on who you pick,” he said.
“I think it’s difficult to compare one player to another. And how they’re performing in a different league.
“Because there are a lot of different factors. Not only a better league. If you play in a better team also, it makes it easier. Especially if you’re an attacking player. So we’ll have to see.”
Gyokeres has only been with his team-mates for a few days but has said that Arteta has already made clear what he wants from him.
“Just try to use my qualities as much as I can,” he said.
“But as you said, I haven’t been here too long. I’ve only done one training session.
“I think I have to do a few more to come into it even more. So far it’s been feeling great. I’m looking forward to doing even more.”
