Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim in pre-season training.
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim in pre-season training.
Manchester United's summer transfer window has been underwhelming at best as they look to rebuild their squad after a disastrous 2024/2025 campaign.
Since completing a move for on the first day of the summer transfer window, United's business has been slow and filled with problems. was seen as a priority, but he chose to move to Chelsea instead.
Bryan Mbeumo became the club's next prime target, but they have been locked in talks with Brentford since June and currently there has been little progress on his signature. The longer those talks go on, the further away a move for a player in a key position gets.
A centre-forward addition is also crucial for this summer. and struggled last season and Ruben Amorim has even suggested that he will look to address that this transfer window.
In an ideal world, would be moving in for right now having signed and nurtured him into Sporting's talisman. Unfortunately, it seems that while United have struggled to sign Mbeumo, Arsenal have taken the lead in the race for the Sweden international.
It is thought Sporting want £60m plus add-ons to allow Gyokeres to go this summer, and the Gunners have an agreement in place with the striker's camp regarding his salary. However, the issue appears to have arisen over Sporting's valuation and understands that Arsenal's negotiators have left Lisbon without an agreement.
Viktor Gyokeres in action for Sporting CP. (Image: Getty Images)
There is now a concern from Gyokeres' side that a deal will not be made with and he will be forced to reassess his options. If that scenario plays out, the 27-year-old insists that he wishes to depart Sporting still, having become frustrated by the manner in which they have handled his departure.
Should it reach late-August, and a deal has still not been reached, Gyokeres would reportedly be interested in a loan move to another European club and this is where United could swoop in. Their relationship with Sporting is much stronger than Arsenal's.
There is good will between the two clubs, as to how Amorim's arrival in Manchester was handled. From there, United also abided with Sporting's gentleman's agreement not to approach one of their players in the January transfer window.
Should it get to the stage where Gyokeres is looking to leave on loan, that could be ideal for United. For starters, the transfer would be cheaper considering they would not need to pay £60m for his services.
There is an acceptance that he would certainly improve United's attack and if he can't sign for Arsenal, working with Amorim would surely be the next best thing for Gyokeres. The issue for United is that they are now in a reactive, rather than proactive, position and they are needing to sit type and hope that the Gunners are unable to complete the transfer.
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