10/12/2024 - 15:22 GMT
Sam Sengupta
Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Manchester United legend Gary Pallister has weighed in on Red Devils target Viktor Gyokeres, admitting he was unconvinced he could do the business in the Premier League when he played for Coventry City.
Gyokeres has been linked with a move back to the Premier League, where Manchester United are keen on him to solve their goalscoring issues.
The move would reunite the player with his former manager at Sporting Lisbon, Ruben Amorim, who is now at the helm of the Old Trafford-based outfit.
Pallister, who has monitored Gyokeres’ progress closely since his days at Coventry City, believes that the player has improved markedly since he left England.
He admits there is a need for a striker at Old Trafford and stressed Gyokeres has a history of performing for Amorim.
_“As I said, there is an opening there for someone to come in and score a lot of goals”,_ Pallister told Swedish outlet [FotbollDirekt](https://fotbolldirekt.se/silly-season/ser-tydlig-plats-for-gyokers-i-united-har-inte-svikit-honom/).
_“Gyokeres at Sporting is someone Ruben Amorim knows really well and has certainly not let him down.”_
Pallister admits that he kept a close eye on the striker when he was playing in the Championship and though he did well, he was unsure he could handle the Premier League.
_“I saw him quite a lot at Coventry when they challenged Middlesbrough a couple of seasons ago._
_“At Championship level he caused a lot of problems. I wasn’t a hundred per cent sure at the end if he could make it into the Premier League.”_
Now though, Pallister thinks there has been improvement in Gyokeres.
_“I know the Portuguese top flight is not the same as the Premier League but it sounds like he has actually improved since he was there and that is why he has been talked about.”_
In the one-and-a-half seasons the Swedish striker has been at Sporting Lisbon he has scored 68 goals and has also helped set up 19 goals for his team-mates.