Viktor Gyokeres makes bombshell Man Utd decision as shock transfer twist emergesrsenal and Manchester United have both been linked with a move for Sporting’s former Coventry City striker Viktor Gyokeres
Coventry City old boy Viktor Gyokeres has reportedly turned down a big-money transfer to Manchester United this summer.
Sky Sports reported on Tuesday that United had approached Gyokeres in their quest to sign a new striker. The Swede is familiar with United boss Ruben Amorim from their time together at Sporting, and many at Old Trafford were hopeful this could sway him to sign.
However, according to Portuguese publication Record, Gyokeres has declined the opportunity to become a United player, with his agents informing transfer chiefs at Old Trafford of his decision. That means Arsenal now seem to be leading the race for Gyokeres’ signature as Coventry City wait to see what their cut of any potential fee will be.
Gyokeres has established himself as one of Europe’s top No 9s in recent seasons, scoring an impressive 97 goals in 102 matches since his transfer from the Sky Blues to Liga Portugal in July 2023.
The forward netted 39 of those goals in the league this season, helping Sporting secure a memorable league and cup double.
The 27 year old reportedly has a gentleman’s agreement to leave Sporting this summer for offers exceeding £58m (€70m), despite a release clause of around £84m (€100m).
However, Sporting’s president Frederico Varandas revealed on Wednesday that no promises were made to Gyokeres about allowing him to depart for a lower price this summer.
“It was agreed that Sporting would not demand his release clause, especially because he was going to be 27,” Varandas remarked. “We knew about 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 €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 claimed earlier this week that Coventry had sold their Gyokeres sell-on clause to Sporting last summer, waiving their right to a future transfer windfall in order to fund their own £18m transfer overhaul. The sell-on clause was said to be worth 10 per cent of any profit on the initial fee Sporting paid to originally sign the player.
However, CoventryLive report that the fee was actually reduced by just five percent after Sporting paid the Championship club €1m (£843,500).
The Sky Blues were initially set to receive 15% of any profit on the initial fee the Portuguese side paid for the striker. That was subject to change if Gyokeres managed a number of achievements, understood to include a set number of goals, appearances and club honours, which were add-ons to the initial fee and amount to €2m (almost £1.7m).
That means City have earned just over an additional £2.5m in add-ons from the initial fee of €20m (£17.5m), taking the total amount received to £20m so far.
