According to reports, Manchester United target Viktor Gyokeres has decided to ‘go on strike’ as he looks to secure a big move elsewhere this summer.
Gyokeres is highly sought after as he scored 54 goals in all competitions for Sporting Lisbon during the 2024/25 campaign to cement himself as a frontrunner to be this year’s top scorer in 2025.
Man Utd are known to be in the market for a striker and Gyokeres is among their leading targets after missing out on Liam Delap, who decided to join Chelsea.
It was feared that United’s failure to qualify for Europe could impact their hopes of landing their preferred summer targets. However, Bryan Mbuemo looks likely to follow Matheus Cunha in signing for the Premier League giants, and Gyokeres could be next.
Gyokeres has a strong relationship with United head coach Ruben Amorim after they worked together at Sporting Lisbon and it’s been reported that he is ‘very keen’ to join the Red Devils.
READ: Transfer rumour power ranking: Man Utd target cheap midfielder, Sporting firm on Gyokeres
There is competition for Gyokeres, but the striker seemingly hoped for an undramatic exit negotiation as he’s been widely reported to have come to a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with Sporting Lisbon.
He has a 100 million euro release clause in his agreement, but this supposed agreement stipulates that he could leave for a reduced fee of around 70 million euros.
However, a recent report revealed Gyokeres is ‘furious’ as Sporting Lisbon have broken this ‘promise’ as this ‘agreement’ is void as they demand a higher fee.
Now, a report from Portuguese outfit Record claims Gyokeres is taking drastic action to secure a move elsewhere as he has decided to ‘go on strike’ and has informed the Primeira Liga champions that he ‘will not play for them again’ as he ‘feels let down’.
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It remains to be seen whether this will impact Man Utd’s hopes of landing Gyokeres, but Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on their move for the forward.
He explained: “Man Utd have called last week, have called over the weekend, and have called again this week for Gyokeres to be informed about the player, to understand the conditions, to understand what’s going on with Sporting, to understand if there is still a chance to make it happen financially after not making it into Champions League.
“Man Utd have been in active talks for Gyokeres in terms of understanding the situation, not club-to-club talks. There is no bid from Man Utd as of this afternoon. We will see in the next days, but for sure, this tense situation between Gyokeres and Sporting is an important point of the story.
“And remember that he remains also on Arsenal’s list in case the [Benjamin] Sesko deal doesn’t happen. But for Sesko, the conversations are ongoing, advancing. Sesko remains the priority, but Gyokeres is still on Arsenal’s list in case that deal doesn’t happen.”
