Viktor Gyokeres, Ruben Amorim with the Man Utd badge
Viktor Gyokeres and Ruben Amorim with the Man Utd badge.
Manchester United have ‘made contact’ over a move for Viktor Gyokeres as Ruben Amorim is ‘poised to win the battle’ for the Sporting striker in a huge blow for Arsenal.
After a dismal season saw them**finish 15th in the Premier League** and miss out on European football after losing the Europa League final to Tottenham, United are working quickly to secure signings to bolster Amorim’s squad ahead of his first full campaign in charge.
Matheus Cunha will arrive after United triggered his £62.5m release clause and club chiefs are ‘in talks’ over a move for Bryan Mbeumo, who ‘wants to join’ the Red Devils.
Brentford are asking for £60m for Mbeumo, while reports claim United are ‘prepared to meet Mbeumo’s whopping wage demands’ which stand at £250,000 a week, equating to £13m a year.
The pair will likely play in the two inverted No.10 roles in Amorim’s 3-4-3 system, but United are also desperately looking for a new striker, with Rasmus Hojlund failing to meet the mark for them in his two seasons at the club.
They were keen on Ipswich’s Liam Delap, but he’s opted to join Chelsea, but that move could open the door to Nicolas Jackson’s exit from Stamford Bridge, with United supposedly ‘interested’ in the Senegal international along with several other suitors.
But a report from GIVEMESPORT claims they haven’t given up hope of landing Gyokeres, who is thought to be near the top of Arsenal’s shortlist, along with RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko.
The report claims ‘Amorim has made it clear to the Old Trafford hierarchy that he is desperate to seal a reunion with the Sporting star’ having been ‘not happy to see Delap pinpointed as Manchester United’s leading target’, with Gyokeres the striker he’s wanted all along.
‘Amorim is poised to win the battle to convince the hierarchy to recruit a proven goalscorer’, though United must sell at least one high-profile star in order to raise funds for the £59m star.
‘Gyokeres’ knowledge of Amorim’s demands is being seen as a major advantage’ by the Red Devils hierarchy, who are also considering a move for Victor Osimhen after his return to Napoli after a productive loan spell with Galatasaray.
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Man Utd legend Gary Neville has given his approval to the signings of Cunha and Mbeumo as the Red Devils need players “able to run, to travel with and without the ball”.
Neville said on the US Overlap: “[Man United] need players who are going to come in and hit the ground running. United has become a very difficult place for new signings to operate in the last ten years.
“Cunha and Mbeumo have obviously got Premier League experience. They’ve got plenty of games under their belt. [English football] is not new to them and actually they are the right type.
“When I watch Manchester United wide players, they have to be able to get from box-to-box quickly. They have to be able to run, to travel with and without the ball. Mbeumo and, to be fair Cunha, can do that.
“They can both run forward with real intent and purpose. A couple of two or three players who are going to leave, they are more ‘jinkers’. Players who, to be fair, play in smaller spaces.
“For anybody who has played at Old Trafford, although the size of the pitch may in terms of metrics not be bigger, it just seems like a big pitch to play on. The width is important.”