Manchester United links to Viktor Gyokeres have been rubbished, with the player not interested in the move and a feeling United are being used by the Portuguese media as a negotiation tactic with an Arsenal transfer still on.
Various Portuguese outlets reported on Sunday that Manchester United were closing in on a deal for Viktor Gyokeres, hijacking Arsenal’s move as the Gunners continue to struggle to finalise a transfer with his current club Sporting CP.
Yet these reports were quickly played down by multiple sources. Ben Jacobs reported that United hadn’t made a bid for Gyokeres and had no plans to do so, and Fabrizio Romano reported that the striker has maintained that his clear position is that he wants to join Arsenal.
Romano added on his YouTube channel that he’s not aware of a bid from United, nor any club-to-club talks.
Intermediaries have reportedly been trying to raise the possibility of a United move via Sporting, and the Portuguese club have also presented Gyokeres with the chance to go to Saudi Arabia. But the player isn’t interested, and his agent isn’t even dealing with United.
Simon Stone reports for the BBC that there’s a strong sense that Manchester United are being used in a political game for Gyokeres.
It would be ideal for Sporting if another club would enter the race for the striker, make a bid that Sporting would be willing to accept, and encourage Arsenal to match that bid to finalise a sale.
The reality is that there’s no such rival bid. Sporting have to agree a deal with Arsenal on its own merits, as everyone knows Gyokeres isn’t interested in going anywhere else.
For what it’s worth, the Portuguese media have now changed tack and started to claim that Gyokeres has rejected United, whilst insisting United’s interest is real. But the bid denials in the English media are widespread.
Political games have been going on throughout this saga, with Sporting president Frederico Varandas making multiple public statements to the media on one side, and Gyokeres refusing to return to training on the other side.
Neither tactic seems to have made much difference to the actual negotiations, which remain ongoing. Meanwhile, Arsenal have begun their pre-season tour without the striker.
Arsenal have an agreement in principle with Sporting for a €63.5m (£55m) transfer with €10m (£8.7m) in add-ons.
Those add-ons are the problem at the moment, with the two clubs failing to agree on a compromise as Sporting push for the entire €10m to be easy to achieve, which would effectively make the guaranteed fee €73.5m (£63.6m).