Coventry City cash blow as Viktor Gyokeres transfer ‘agreement’ reached ahead of summer window
Coventry City news from CoventryLive as we bring you the latest on former star striker Viktor Gyokeres’ future and what it means financially for the Sky Blues
On the move? Former Coventry City striker Viktor Gyokeres (Image: Getty Images)
Former Coventry City star striker Victor Gyokeres has come to an agreement with Sporting CP over a summer transfer.
The striker has, it’s claimed, a verbal agreement that he will be allowed to leave if a fee in the region of £50.2m-£58.5m arrives in the upcoming transfer window, reports the Mirror.
And while that will come as a major boost for all of the Sweden international’s admirers – the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United will be relieved to hear the figure is substantially less than his reported £83.6m release clause – it’s not such great news for the Sky Blues, who have a 10 percent sell-on clause and are set to gain financially from any profit on the initial fee they sold the 26-year-old for back in the summer of 2023 (around £20m including bonuses).
The player’s former club, Brighton, also stand to benefit from a sell-on fee, with City entitled to a slice of £30m-£38.5m (the difference between what they sold him for and what he goes for) assuming the above figures are correct. Brighton would then get a cut, understood to be 15 percent, of the payout that Coventry receive.
Gyokeres has also drawn links to Europe’s best sides following his blistering time in Portugal after signing from Coventry. Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea have been informed of the agreement, it is claimed by Sky Germany. Manchester City also know, with Sporting Lisbon’s sporting director, Hugo Viana, heading to the Etihad this summer.
Sporting’s president Frederico Varandas played down the prospects of an exit for Gyokoeres last month. Varandas was coy when asked about the Sweden international’s future.
“Gyokeres was leaving in the summer, a year ago, a year and a half ago…” he said. “Gyokeres was going to leave, anyway. We were champions and he was already leaving.”
“In January it was impossible and it remained so,” he added. “I’m not going to add to it, it’s already very media-driven and it’s not worth talking about the summer market.”
Portuguese outlet A Bola, meanwhile, has claimed Gyokeres prefers a transfer to Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester City, over Manchester United ahead of an ‘inevitable’ summer exit. That is despite his familiarity with Red Devils boss Ruben Amorim.
Jon Dahl Tomasson, Gyokeres’ head coach on international duty, has backed the striker to succeed wherever his future leads. “Gyokeres would be fantastic in the Premier League,” he said ahead of Sweden’s match against Northern Ireland on Tuesday night.
“He could play for any club in the world and he would score a lot of goals anywhere. Him and [Alexander] Isak are two quite different players, but they’re both world-class strikers.”
Gyokeres has scored 40 goals in 41 appearances this term after racking up 43 goals in 50 outings in 2023/24.
