Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres has unsurprisingly been named in Sweden’s World Cup squad after firing Graham Potter’s side to North America
Graham Potter has revealed Viktor Gyokeres will play no part in either of Sweden’s World Cup warm-up matches due to his involvement in this season’s Champions League final with Arsenal.
The Gunners square off with holders PSG in Budapest on May 30 and two days later on June 1, Sweden play fellow Scandinavian nation Norway as part of their World Cup preparations.
Potter has confirmed Gyokeres will be excused from the match in Oslo and the friendly against Greece in Stockholm just three days later.
He feels the 27-year-old needs to rest before this summer’s major tournament, explaining: “He [Gyokeres] will not be in the first two matches in Oslo and Stockholm.
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“He plays the Champions League final on May 30 and the next match after that [the World Cup opener] will be two weeks later. I don’t think he needs any more games there. He’s probably played 500 games this season. He doesn’t need any more.”
Potter also confirmed no other player will take Gyokeres’ place for the two World Cup warm-up fixtures.
Sweden have been paired with Tunisia, the Netherlands and Japan in Group F after sneaking qualification through the play-offs.
Gyokeres was a major hit in those crunch fixtures, scoring a hat-trick against Ukraine in Valencia in the semi-final before eventually netting the winner in the play-off final against Poland in March.
A number of other Arsenal players are also expected to miss World Cup warm-up fixtures due to the Champions League final.
Most international bosses are expected to grant a period of rest following the conclusion of the club season, otherwise players could be playing right through until mid-July without a break.
Unfortunately for injured Tottenham playmaker Dejan Kulusevski, the World Cup will come too soon for him, so he was left out of the squad.
It’s been a year since he picked up his patella injury against Crystal Palace as his gruelling recovery programme continues. Fellow Spurs midfielder Lucas Bergvall was included in Potter’s squad, however.
Meanwhile, one of the other big stories from Sweden was the omission of 20-year-old Barcelona winger Roony Bardghji.
Bardghji missed the cut entirely. Controversy also surrounds the inclusion of former Watford wing-back Kem Sema – over starting Benfica left-back Samuel Dahl – because Sema has recently been on the bench for his current club Pafos FC.
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