Just like his form, the race for Viktor Gyokeres is hotting up as well, with reports in Spain claiming Barcelona and Real Madrid are pursuing the Swedish striker.
Lots of outlets have claimed that Gyokeres is destined for a summer reunion with manager Ruben Amorim to solve Manchester United’s chronic goalscoring ills.
But as per Spanish media, both the La Liga heavyweights now have the 26-year-old in their sights, despite neither being ready to pay his release clause.
Gyokeres has scored a remarkable 24 goals in 19 games for Sporting Lisbon this season, including a Champions League hat-trick against Manchester City, and has opened the door for a summer switch to United.
Fichajes claim that Barcelona are eyeing the player as a successor to 36-year-old Robert Lewandowski, and already have a cost-cutting plan drawn up to secure his services.
The Camp Nou outfit would look to offer around €70 million for the player, then immediately loan him back to Sporting for a year.
The report admits that Sporting may not go for this deal, which falls some €30m short of the player’s release clause.
It adds that currently Barcelona are “still unable to afford such a high expenditure” and that any offer “would depend on their ability to recover their financial solvency between now and the summer.”
So Barcelona’s offer seems speculative, but their bitter Madrid rivals have a cunning scheme of their own prepared for luring Gyokeres to the Bernabéu.
In a separate report, Fichajes claim that Real would look to use Endrick as a bartering tool in a deal with Sporting.
The Brazilian wonderkid is in need of gametime, and a loan deal for him “could be an attractive formula” to convince Sporting to part ways with their talismanic forward.
Gyokeres “perfectly” fits the profile of player sought by Real as part of a move to “rejuvenate and strengthen” their front line.
Fichajes also report that they are seeking players “who combine physique, technique and goal-scoring efficiency” to achieve this.
What’s more, the report refers to the winter transfer window, suggesting Real could move quickly to try and secure their man.
Amorim is understood to have an agreement with his former employer that he won’t raid their squad until the end of the season, so should Gyokeres switch clubs in January it would almost certainly be bad news for United.
There may be a kernel of truth in the La Liga giants holding an interest in the striker, as all top teams will be acutely aware of his form.
But with neither of them seemingly willing to trigger his release clause, there is no reason to believe Sporting will entertain their approaches, should they materialise at all.
Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
