Sporting head coach Rui Borges has paid a touching tribute to Viktor Gyokeres following his return to the club on Tuesday evening.
Gyokeres started for Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final first leg in Portugal, which was settled by Kai Havertz's injury-time goal as the Gunners took a 1-0 lead back to north London.
The Sweden international enjoyed a trophy-laden two-year spell with Sporting, in which time he scored 97 goals in 102 games to earn a £65million move to Arsenal.
Gyokeres's exit was somewhat acrimonious, with the striker refusing to return to Sporting for pre-season as negotiations between the two clubs dragged on.
But, 11 months on from his last appearance, Gyokeres was on Tuesday night applauded off by the Sporting fans before being spotted in conversation with Borges after the final whistle.
"I just asked if they were okay, if his family was okay. That I was happy for him," he told reporters of the pair's chat.
"He deserves recognition, he helped me immensely to become national champion, he gave everything while he was here, he made history at Sporting and in the Portuguese championship, and he’s always welcome. He deserves to be applauded."
Sporting forward Rafael Nel added: "Gyokeres said a few words [to me]. He was happy for me and I’m happy for him.
"He’s an idol to me, I’ll see him next week and we’ll play the game with everything we’ve got. We have nothing to fear, the team is confident and we’ll play well there."
