Viktor Gyokeres is anxious about getting a good summer move, with Sporting CP reportedly setting an €80m lower threshold for transfer negotiations.
As reports continue to link Arsenal with Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig and Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting CP, the latter striker is starting to become concerned about missing out on a move.
Journalist Graeme Bailey tells TBR that Gyokeres is anxious about securing a transfer, believing he can be the final piece of the jigsaw for Arsenal. The player wants his future resolved as soon as possible.
Yet the player’s current club continue to cause problems, with A Bola reporting on Wednesday morning that Sporting have set an €80m (£68.2m) bar for negotiations.
Sporting president Frederico Varandas has previously publicly insisted that though he will accept less than Gyokeres’ €100m release clause, he won’t go as low as €60m with €10m in add-ons.
There had been some reports that Sporting had a verbal agreement with Gyokeres’ camp to allow him to depart for that €70m package, but Varandas evidently doesn’t believe that’s the case.
So €80m makes sense as a potential valuation for the striker. Whether it’s a fee Arsenal are willing to pay is another matter.
In the meantime, Gyokeres has personally made contact with Varandas to inform the club president of his decision to leave, and he’s reportedly not expected to return to training.
Sporting are set to begin their pre-season preparations on Tuesday, July 1st, so player and club are in line for a stand-off unless something changes before then.