Sporting chief drops Viktor Gyokeres transfer hint

Sporting CP president Frederico Varandas has suggested that Viktor Gyokeres, rumored to be a Manchester United target, will likely stay with Sporting through January. Though he hinted at a possible summer transfer.

Gyokeres has attracted interest after an impressive start this season. Following 43 goals in 50 matches during his debut season with Sporting, he has scored 23 in 18 games this term, including a recent hat-trick against Manchester City.

Since Ruben Amorim’s appointment as Manchester United’s head coach, speculation has grown that Gyokeres could join him at Old Trafford. However, Amorim downplayed these rumors last week, telling A Bola,

“If I start joking about this Gyokeres situation, I’ll get in trouble. Viktor has to stay until the end of the season, then his life will probably go somewhere else.”

Varandas, speaking after Amorim’s exit, hinted that Gyokeres might leave next summer. “I can’t promise anything. If a club arrives and pays the release clause, if he wants to go, he will go,” Varandas said, according to Fabrizio Romano. “But I do not think this will happen in January.”

Amorim began his role at Manchester United on Monday, arriving by private jet after managing his final game for Sporting—a 4-2 victory at Braga. Hours later, United confirmed Ruud van Nistelrooy’s departure. In a statement, the club praised him: “Ruud is, and always will be, a Manchester United legend…He will always be very welcome at Old Trafford.”

Amorim’s first match with United will be against Ipswich on Sunday, November 24. Van Nistelrooy ended his interim stint with a 3-0 win over Leicester.