Manchester United still seem to be in with a chance of signing Victor Gyokeres as his transfer saga appears to have hit another roadblock.
While existing competition from Arsenal and Juventus would already make for an intense transfer battle given their Champions League status, Man United’s pursuit would appear even more far fetched when it was revealed that Gyokeres was allegedly open to hearing offers from seven clubs in total, including Manchester City, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, and Bayern Munich as well as Arsenal.
In the midst of so much transfer interest, a feud began to brew between the player and Sporting’s president, Frederico Varandas, when the latter decided to demand more money than the initial €60 million plus €10 million in add-ons as previously reported.
While Arsenal appeared to be closing in on Gyokeres, the club’s interest in the Sporting CP striker seemed to have since cooled, given a difference in valuation. This came after Sporting’s president, Frederico Varandas, spontaneously raised the asking price to €80 million.
Although Juventus were reportedly willing to step in with an improved €70m bid for Gyokeres, with €10m being structured as bonuses, the player’s relationship with Sporting had already soured.
Gyokeres entered into a bitter feud with Varandas, with the latter accusing the player and his agent of using “threats, blackmail and insults” to engineer an exit this summer.
Gyokeres fired back by claiming that the Sporting president was uttering falsehoods.
Now, it appears as if there may be no end in sight to the star striker’s feud with Varandas.
Record reported this morning that, “in the last few hours, a person close to the two-time national champions made contact so that a meeting could take place between the parties, in an attempt to resolve the dispute and try to find a consensus.”
However, the report added that this approach was rejected by Gyokeres and his agent, Hasan Çetinkaya, with both sides remaining adamant in their views.
As such, Gyokeres and Sporting seem to be at an impasse with no way forward as of yet.
Scoring a massive 54 goals in 52 matches across all competitions last season, Gyokeres is as lethal as they come in the opponents’ box.
Still, this latest setback in his transfer saga could spell trouble for any club that pursues him, especially if Gyokeres appears to have become the kind of player who believes himself to be bigger than his club.
At this point in time, it appears that United would do well to steer clear of Gyokeres. After all, the club has enough on its plate given the massive squad rebuild that will be required to return United to winning ways next season.
Featured image Gualter Fatia via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Mathew Cohen
A faithful Manchester United supporter, Mathew has worked as a football writer and analyst for SB Nation, FanSided, and now The Peoples Person. Mathew’s heroes include David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Sir Alex Ferguson, all of whom played their part in creating some special childhood memories.
