Amorim responds to Man Utd transfer links to Viktor Gyokeres but jokes he could ‘get in trouble’

Incoming Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has offered his thoughts on the prospects of reuniting with Viktor Gyokeres at Old Trafford – but insisted he could land himself in hot water if he speaks out about the Swede and amid claims he is one of THREE Sporting Lisbon stars he wants to bring with him to the Premier League.

The 39-year-old coach has been chosen as the new manager of Manchester United, in succession to the sacked Erik ten Hag, and will take up his new position from Monday. Amorim has very quickly underlined exactly why he is so highly rated in the game by masterminding his side’s 4-1 destruction of Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday night in his penultimate match in charge of Sporting Libson.

While that has whetted the appetite of what United fans can come to expect, Amorim has very quickly played down suggestions that the Red Devils will simply be able to perform to that level overnight.

Nonetheless, excitement is growing over the level of manager that United are getting, with Sporting CP not just riding high in their respective Champions League and Primeira Liga tables, but also playing a brand of football which is extremely pleasing on the eye.

One of those men who have been key to his recent success is Gyokeres, with the Sweden striker scoring a hat-trick on Tuesday night to take his tally for the season to 23 from just 17 appearances.

And with the 26-year-old already having been linked with a move to United alongside Amorim, the 39-year-old coach has now addressed those rumours with a little hint at where the land lies with the player.

“If I start joking about this Gyokeres situation I’ll get in trouble,” Amorim told Portuguese outlet A Bola. “This is my city, this is my country, so I’ll respect it. Viktor has to stay until the end of the season and then his life will probably go somewhere else.”

READ MORE ~ Ruben Amorim insists Man Utd ‘can’t play like Sporting’ with hint on new Red Devils style dropped

Rio raves over Gyokeres as striker discusses Amorim’s Man Utd move

While Amorim understandably has to use diplomacy while being asked about signing Gyokeres – or indeed any of the Sporting players he is leaving behind – Rio Ferdinand has made clear his wishes for United to sign the striker in 2025 and reckons several Premier League sides will be left scratching their heads at how they let him slip under their radar.

“The recruitment teams in all the clubs in the Premier League must be scratching their heads about how they let him get away,” Ferdinand told TNT Sport.

“He hasn’t had a conventional route, his route to the top hasn’t been straightforward.

“He was at Brighton as a kid, sold to Coventry, went on loan to Swansea, goes back to Coventry and does well, then goes to Sporting Lisbon.

“He has had a journey where he has had to build himself and create what he is now.

“You think ‘How has he been allowed to get out?’, all of a sudden when are seeing what he has got, maybe he has grown into what he is, the confidence, stature he has, the physicality, he might have had to wait for that to come.

“A few times today he blew away from players, holding people off.”

Amorim has already stated he won’t raid his former club for any player in the January window, though trusted journalist Florian Plettenberg has revealed that sources have told him that a move for Gyokeres is very much on the cards.

But Gyokeres himself has admitted his club will miss their manager but has challenged them to maintain those high standards in his absence.

“We will miss him a lot,” Gyokeres told UEFA. “We’ve done amazing things together. We will miss him and the other guys on the staff who will leave. We have to look forward and attack the next challenge ahead of us. It’s always nice to score and even better to score a hat-trick. Most important was to win the game so it was a brilliant night for us. We knew it was going to be tough and we didn’t start well.

“We knew they would give us space and we could have scored more than four to be fair. They could have scored more as well. You need to raise your level when you play better opponents. I tried to keep doing what I’ve been doing.”

Amorim keen to sign £201m trio for Man Utd / bid made for Barcelona star

In addition to Gyokeres, Amorim is also reportedly keen to bring two other Sporting stars with him to Old Trafford in Ousmane Diomande and Goncalo Inacio.

Signing all three players would set United back a staggering £201m if Sporting held United to all their exit clauses, meaning any such move would be unlikely given the costs involved.

However, it’s claimed talks have already taken place and Amorim has set the wheels in motion for the potential triple swoop by informing the club of four players who will not play any part in United’s future and whose exit will save them a staggering £820,000 a week in wages.

The first signing through the door at Old Trafford though under the new manager could actually come from Barcelona after reports in Spain claimed the Red Devils had made an opening €15m (£12.6m) bid for defender Andreas Christensen.

The Dane has fallen down the pecking order under Hansi Flick and it’s reported United’s offer could be enough to persuade them to cash in. The experienced centre-half would bring big-game experience with him and has operated in the preferred back-three formation that Amorim tends to favour.

Elsewhere, Amorim is also reported to have green-lit a move to bring a former player back to Old Trafford in the January transfer window as he looks to fix a problem position at the club.

How Gyokeres compared to various Premier League attackers last season