Viktor Gyokeres has reportedly ‘closed the door’ on a transfer to Manchester United and is keen to complete a ‘dream’ move to Premier League rivals Arsenal.
The Sporting striker scored 52 club goals in 2024 and already has 27 this year, with Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe setting the standard.
He is expected to leave the Portuguese champions this summer, but his relationship with Sporting has become pretty volatile.
Gyokeres has an £84million release clause in his contract, but it’s widely reported he has a gentleman’s agreement to leave for around £59million.
A supposed U-turn by Sporting has infuriated Gyokeres, with the club now reportedly demanding closer to £70million, and some reports even claim they won’t negotiate below his release clause.
It’s all become a bit of a mess, with fake agent quotes and accusations of ‘blackmail’, though Sporting president Frederico Varandas has attempted to provide some clarity on the situation.
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He said: “It was agreed that Sporting would not demand the release clause at the end of the following season, especially because he was going to be 27. Then, we knew Viktor’s dream of going to a club where he could fight for the Champions League and we have common sense.
“We guaranteed that we would not demand 100 million. In that meeting, the agent wanted to anchor the departure to a value, he spoke of 60 million, 70 million…
“I said, ‘There’s no point in setting a value’ because I don’t know what will happen here in a year, if he gets injured, if he has a disappointing season… There’s no point in setting a value, I don’t know if it will be 40, 60 or 80. What I can guarantee is that I will not demand 100 million.
“From then on, I never spoke to the agent again, I never spoke to the player about departures and values. 10 months have passed and I see the agent in the press spouting information here and there, but Sporting has common sense, it keeps its word.”
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Portuguese newspaper Record initially claimed there was no evidence of a gentleman’s agreement, and they are now reporting that Viktor Gyokeres has informed Manchester United he does not want to join them.
Saturday’s edition of Record (via Sport Witness) claims that Gyokeres has made it clear he is no longer a summer option for Manchester United.
The Red Devils have been in contact throughout the week, but ‘this possibility lost strength and, in the last few hours, it has fallen away completely’.
The Swedish international is reportedly unimpressed with the financial terms of a move to Old Trafford and views the transfer as ‘a greater sporting risk’, particularly with Ruben Amorim’s side missing out on European football in 2025/26.
As a result, Gyokeres ‘is now definitively closing the door on Old Trafford’ and has identified Arsenal as his ‘dream’ move.
The issue is, Gyokeres might not be Arsenal’s dream striker. They are said to prefer RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, but the Swede would be a pretty decent second choice.
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