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Manchester United have the chance to bolster their ranks in January
Manchester United have made initial ‘concrete talks’ with Sporting Lisbon regarding a move for striker Viktor Gyokeres but face competition from Manchester City, according to Sky Germany football journalist Florian Plettenberg on X. The pair are battling it out to lure the attacker to the Premier League.
Plettenberg has posted: “Manchester United have now made initial concrete talks regarding Viktor #Gyökeres and a potential move in the summer. The Red Devils are now fully involved. #MUFC However, this will require sales first! Manchester City have also intensified their efforts in recent days. Hugo Viana is currently pushing hard in the pursuit of Gyökeres. #MCFC.”
United could see Gyokeres, who is 26-years-old, as someone to bolster their striking department. He played with their new boss Ruben Amorim at Sporting and the Red Devils will hope that can give the edge over rivals City in this particular pursuit.
The Sweden international joined his current club back in 2023 and has since been prolific. He has scored 67 goals in 70 games in all competitions, 24 of which have come this season in 20 games already and his long-term future is up in the air amid attention from elsewhere.
Gyokeres has recently said: "It's not something I think about (transfer talk), nor something I give any importance to. It's just rumours, nothing concrete. Of course, I want to finish the season at Sporting, I'm enjoying my time there. I don't feel stressed about making a change in the future. We'll see when the time comes."
Sell-on fee
Championship side Coventry City hold a sell-on fee for the player. He found the net on 40 occasions in 97 outings for the Sky Blues before Sporting came calling. Their owner Doug King has said: “Look, the deal we did with Viktor was a difficult deal to get done. He was going to Sporting Lisbon, Sporting Lisbon, Sporting Lisbon or Sporting Lisbon and they felt they were going to get what they wanted and we had to fight hard to get our deal. And the deal we got, I thought, was pretty damn good considering he had one year left and could have signed a pre-contract in four months.
“He’s obviously shot the lights out, which tells you what he did for us in that 22/23 season where we played very transitionary football, and if he’d have got injured in that second half of the season... I was more concerned with relegation, to be honest with you. Look, it will come or it won’t. I was happy with the deal and if he flogs on for 100 million Euros then we get some money to put into the coffers. We have already invested a lot of money into this club.”
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United-linked Gyokeres started out as a youngster at IF Brommapojkarna before Brighton and Hove Albion lured him over to England in 2017. He then spent four years on the books at the AMEX Stadium and played eight games, chipping in with a single goal.
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