Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyökeres will not be available for €70 million ($80m) this summer, the club’s president has warned amid interest from Manchester United.
ESPN reported on Tuesday that United are prioritising the signing of Brentford striker Bryan Mbeumo before focusing on a potential move for Gyökeres, with Arsenal also interested.
However, reports in Portugal claim that Gyökeres is angry at Sporting, believing the club to have gone back on an agreement to allow him to move for €60m plus €10m in add-ons, much less than his €100m release clause.
On Wednesday, Sporting president Frederico Varandas told reporters: “I can guarantee that Viktor Gyökeres will not leave for €60m 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 recieved offers for Gyökeres exceeding €60m, he said: “To date, Sporting has not received an offer for Viktor Gyökeres, neither today nor last season.
“One thing you should already know is that you should know me better. Threats, blackmail, and insults don’t work with me. He is a fantastic professional, but to date he has received zero offers. He has a three-year contract with Sporting.”
However, Varandas said confirmed that he did have an agreement with Gyökeres to allow him to leave for less than his €100m release clause.
“It was agreed that Sporting would not demand the termination clause at the end of this season, not least because he was turning 27,” Varandas said.
“We knew Viktor’s dream was to go to a club where he could fight for the Champions League, and we have common sense. We guaranteed that we would not demand the €100m.
“At that meeting, the agent wanted to anchor the departure to a figure, talking about €60m, 70m … I said, ‘There’s no point in setting a figure because I don’t know what will happen here in a year’s time, if he gets injured, if he has a disappointing season.
“There’s no point in setting a figure, I don’t know if it will be 40, 60 or 80. What I can guarantee is that I won’t demand €100m’. From then on, I never spoke to the agent again, I never spoke to the player about departures or figures … 10 months have passed and I see the agent in the press giving out information here and there, but Sporting has common sense, it keeps its word.”
Gyökeres has become one of the most coveted strikers in Europe having scored 97 times in 102 games for Sporting in all competitions since his arrival in July 2023 from Coventry City.