Sporting Lisbon's club president Frederico Varandas has stated that Viktor Gyokeres will not be allowed to move for £59million, despite links to clubs such as Manchester United and Arsenal. The Swedish forward is under contract with Sporting, which includes an £84.7m release clause.
Reports suggest Gyokeres believes he has a verbal agreement with the club for a departure at £50.8m plus £8.4m in additional bonuses, but Varandas has refuted this claim.
Instead, Varandas acknowledges the club made a commitment to the 27 year old player that they wouldn't insist on obtaining the full amount stipulated in his release clause.
This commitment was mentioned during discussions last year between Sporting officials and Gyokeres' agent. Speaking with reporters in Portugal, Varandas remarked: "What was agreed? That Sporting would not demand a release clause now.
"For one reason – he was going to be 27 years old and no player leaves Portugal at 27 for 100 or 90million euros."
(Image: Valter Gouveia/NurPhoto)
He continued by detailing a conversation from that meeting, where he refused to set a specific value for the player's potential exit: "In that same meeting, the agent wanted to anchor the exit to a value.
"I said this sentence: 'It's not worth us setting a value because I don't know what will happen in a year's time. I don't know if it will be 40, 60 or 80. What I can guarantee is that I will not demand 100million euros'."
Varandas also emphasised that he had not engaged in further discussions regarding departure deals or valuations with either the agent or Gyokeres himself, stating: "From then on, I never spoke to the agent again, I never spoke to the player about departures or values."
Gyokeres, who has previously turned out for Swansea and [Coventry](https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/all-about/coventry) in the UK, has netted 97 goals in 102 appearances for Sporting across all competitions.