Arsenal and Manchester United have both been linked with a move for Sporting’s former Coventry City striker Viktor Gyokeres
Viktor Gyokeres, a former Coventry City player, reportedly turned down a lucrative deal to Manchester United this summer.
Sky Sports claimed on Tuesday that United had approached Gyokeres about signing a new striker. The Swede is familiar with United manager Ruben Amorim from their time at Sporting, and many at Old Trafford hoped this would persuade him to sign.
However, according to Portuguese daily Record, Gyokeres has denied the possibility to join United, with his agents alerting transfer bosses at Old Trafford of his decision. That means Arsenal appear to be winning the fight for Gyokeres’ signature, while Coventry City waits to see what their cut of any potential money will be.
Gyokeres has established himself as one of Europe’s best No 9s in recent seasons, scoring 97 goals in 102 games since moving from the Sky Blues to Liga Portugal in July 2023.
This season, the forward scored 39 league goals, guiding Sporting to a memorable league and cup double.
The 27-year-old apparently has a gentleman’s agreement to leave Sporting this summer for offers above £58 million (€70 million), despite having a release clause of roughly £84 million (€100 million).
However, Sporting’s president, Frederico Varandas, said on Wednesday that no commitments were given to Gyokeres to allow him to leave for a reduced fee this summer.
“It was agreed that Sporting would not demand his release clause, especially because he was going to be 27,” says Varandas. “We understood about Viktor’s desire to join a club where he could compete for the Champions League, and we have common sense.
“We guaranteed that we would not demand €100m and that we would adjust the value to Viktor’s performance, but he was one of the best players to step on the pitch in Portugal.”
TalkSPORT reported earlier this week that Coventry traded their Gyokeres sell-on clause to Sporting last summer, giving up their right to a potential transfer bonanza in order to bankroll their own £18 million revamp. The sell-on option was claimed to be worth 10% of any profit from the initial sum Sporting spent to sign the player.
However, CoventryLive reports that the sum was only cut by 5% when Sporting paid the Championship team €1 million (£843,500).
The Sky Blues were initially intended to get 15% of any profits made from the initial sum paid by the Portuguese club for the striker. That was susceptible to alter if Gyokeres achieved a specified number of goals, appearances, and club accolades, which were added to the initial sum and totaled €2 million (nearly £1.7 million).
That means City has earned somewhat more than £2.5 million in add-ons from the initial €20 million fee (£17.5 million), bringing the total amount received to £20 million so far.
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