Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyökeres will not be available for 70 million euros this summer, as warned by the club president in the face of interest from Manchester United.
On Tuesday, it was reported that United are prioritizing the signing of Brentford striker Bryan Mbeumo before focusing on a possible transfer of Gyökeres, with Arsenal also interested.
However, reports from Portugal claim that Gyökeres is upset with Sporting, believing that the club has broken an agreement to allow him to leave for 60 million euros plus 10 million in add-ons, much less than his release clause of 100 million euros.
On Wednesday, Sporting president Frederico Varandas told the press: “I can guarantee that Viktor Gyökeres will not leave for 60 million euros plus 10 because I never promised that. The game the agent is playing is only making the situation worse.”
When asked if the club had received offers for Gyökeres that exceeded 60 million euros, he replied: “To date, Sporting has not received any offers for Viktor Gyökeres, neither today nor last season.”Viktor Gyökeres es objeto de interés tanto del Manchester United como del Arsenal.“One thing you should already know is that you should know me better. Threats, blackmail, and insults don’t work with me. He’s a fantastic professional, but to date, he hasn’t received any offers. He has a three-year contract with Sporting.”
However, Varandas confirmed that he did have an agreement with Gyökeres to allow him to leave for less than his release clause of 100 million euros.
“It was agreed that Sporting would not demand the release clause at the end of this season, especially because he was turning 27 years old,” said Varandas.
“We knew that Viktor’s dream was to go to a club where he could fight for the Champions League, and we have common sense. We guarantee that we would not demand 100 million euros.”
“In that meeting, the agent wanted to anchor the exit to a figure, talking about 60 million, 70 million… I said: ‘It makes no sense to set a figure because I don’t know what will happen here in a year, if he gets injured, if he has a disappointing season.”
“It makes no sense to set a figure, I don’t know if it will be 40, 60 or 80. What I can guarantee is that I will not demand 100 million euros.’ From then on, I never spoke to the agent again, I never spoke to the player again about departures or figures… 10 months have passed and I see the agent in the press giving information here and there, but Sporting has common sense, it keeps its word.”
Gyökeres has become one of the most sought-after forwards in Europe after scoring 97 goals in 102 matches for Sporting in all competitions since his arrival in July 2023 from Coventry City.
