Sky Sports recently announced plans to massively increase its Premier League coverage. Even more importantly, they’ll boost the total number of exclusive live games from 128 to at least 215 starting with the 2025-26 season. From next season, more than 80 percent of all televised Premier League games will be shown on Sky Sports. This change cements Sky Sports as the essential broadcaster for football fanatics in the UK.
This clever political move happens alongside lucrative innovations as the Premier League themselves still rake in record viewership and advertising revenue. Sky Sports is ramping up its coverage to deepen its dominance in sports broadcasting. On one hand, this change will be a good thing for fans, as it’ll provide more access to live games.
Viktor Gyokeres Faces Disciplinary Action
In a related but fascinating footnote, Viktor Gyokeres has been instrumental of late, leading Sporting to victory in both the league and the Portuguese Cup. Now he’s the subject of disciplinary action by the club. The turmoil began when Gyokeres missed the reporting date for pre-season training – July 12 – leaving the club furious. Indeed, Sporting’s president, Frederico Varandas, revealed Gyokeres directly told the Portuguese club he’d be not coming into training. This decision is particularly interesting given that he’s in deep talks with Arsenal right now.
“We’re calm. Everything can be solved with the closure of the market, a hefty fine and an apology to the group.” – Frederico Varandas
Gyokeres’ impact has undoubtedly been felt at Coventry. He bagged 43 goals in two and a half seasons, highlighting the kind of star potential he showed in his electric last season. His return of 54 goals in 52 games in all competitions made him one of the hottest properties in world football on the summer transfer market.
Transfer Negotiations Heat Up
Sporting is reportedly looking for an up-front fee of £60.4 million for Gyokeres. They are calling for a further £8.6 million in performance-related add-ons. Varandas continued, insisting that the club are under no external pressure to offload the former Portugal Under 21 international. Or they are prepared to go as far as retaining him if negotiations do not progress to their liking.
“If they don’t want to pay Viktor’s fair market value, we’ll be very comfortable with that for the next three years.” – Frederico Varandas
The club president famously announced that no player is bigger than the club in bold terms. He was adamant that Sporting would not be pushed around by outside influences in this key negotiation.
“No one is above the interests of the club. Whoever they are.” – Frederico Varandas
As negotiations are still ongoing between Arsenal and Gyokeres, it is hard to say how this disciplinary move will affect his proposed move to Arsenal, if at all.
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