Robin Bairner
Viktor Gyokeres
© IMAGO
Manchester United have opened transfer talks with Viktor Gyokeres but face competition from Manchester City for the Sporting CP hitman.
Gyokeres has been one of the stars of European football this season, with the Sweden international striker having scored 25 goals in 22 games for his club.
Things are threatening to fall apart in Lisbon following the departure of Amorim, though. Sporting have lost three successive matches in the wake for their head coach leaving for Man Utd while they have also faced a whirlwind of speculation regarding players they could lose to the Red Devils or other major clubs. By recent standards, they are in a period of crisis.
Gyokeres is chief among the players expected to leave, and while the expectation is that the striker will not depart until the summer, speculation is still expected around his future in January with clubs trying to steal a march on their rivals.
Man Utd and Man City have already started transfer talks, according to CaughtOffside. There is no indication that Arsenal and Chelsea, who are also linked with the forward, have done likewise.
It is reported that personal terms are unlikely to be an issue in any negotiations, with both clubs willing to offer Gyokeres deals that will run until 2029.
Previous reports indicate that a transfer fee of around €70 million could be sufficient for a deal to go through – a cut-price figure compared to the €100m Sporting were asking for in the summer.
Viktor Gyokeres
© IMAGO - Viktor Gyokeres
United favourites to land Gyokeres
Manchester United are thought to be favourites to land the 26-year-old because of his relationship with Amorim.
Speaking in April, Gyokeres’ agent Hasan Cetinkaya underlined the close bond between the two when he told Record: “I would say that at this point it is also very important to know… what will happen with Ruben Amorim. Because we came here because of him. We have to know what Sporting’s plans are.”
At this point, he was discussing the future of the Sweden international ahead of a potential summer 2024 deal, when Arsenal were hotly linked with the forward.
As such, United are said to be “confident” of completing a deal, yet with City also interested in Gyokeres, they will not feel entirely assured until his signature is on the contract.