Fabrizio Romano rates Man Utd chances of January deal for Gyokeres with ‘behind the scenes’ work being done

Sporting Lisbon remain calm and confident they can retain the services of Viktor Gyokeres in the January window, with Fabrizio Romano providing an update on the growing interest in the striker’s services and amid claims Manchester United have learned the bargain price the striker can move for.

The Red Devils are preparing for the start of an exciting new era with Ruben Amorim taking up his role as the new Manchester United manager- and the sixth permanent appointment by the club since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson back in 2013 – from Monday. Taking over from the sacked Erik ten Hag, the 39-year-old coach will look to try and get an instant improvement out of their underperforming squad, while in the long term hope to re-establish the club as a major force in English and European football.

Given his success at Sporting, it’s little surprise to see the new United boss being linked with moves to reunite with some of those players at Old Trafford. And if given their pick, plenty of supporters would certainly love to see the club agreeing a deal for explosive striker Gyokeres, who this week plundered a hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League to take his tally to 23 goals in 17 appearances this season.

Romano, though, has moved to play down United’s prospects of getting a January deal done for the player, with Amorim keen not to damage his relationship with the Portuguese champions.

“The feeling at Sporting is that Viktor Gyokeres can complete the season at the club and then decide his future destination in summer 2025. For sure, we expect Viktor Gyokeres to leave Sporting in 2025, should be in the summer, so this is the idea,” Romano told his YouTube channel.

“Amorim has been honest, he is not planning to go for Gyokeres in the January transfer window, also, because he doesn’t want to break the relationship with the club, the relationship with the Sporting fans. So going for Viktor Gyokeres in January would mean creating a problem, an issue to the relationship.”

However, as Romano admits, that could change come the summer, with the reporter highlighting the ‘behind the scenes work’ being done on a possible deal.

“In the summer, it could be completely different for any club. There are many clubs interested in Gyokeres, guys. So I’m not going to come here and tell you nine clubs interested in Gyokeres. As soon as there will be something concrete, I will let you know which club is pushing for Viktor Gyokeres. But the interest is obviously there, and many clubs are starting to work behind the scenes on the Viktor Gyokeres story for 2025.”

READ MORE: Amorim told ‘100 per cent’ to bag elite striker he can ‘get best from’ in cut-price deal at Man Utd

What has Amorim said on Gyokeres and how much will summer deal cost? 

Romano concluded: “Man Utd in January are not planning to break the relationship with Sporting, especially because this is something wanted by Ruben Amorim for Gyokeres.”

Amorim has already been questioned on the possibility of bringing Gyokeres to Old Trafford, insisting he will ‘get in trouble’ if he speaks too much about the Swede.

“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.”

Despite the comments, there is a feeling that Amorim is being pretty clever here. A potential January deal for the player would set United back a serious wedge when compared to the price they may need if they waited until the summer.

And per a strong report earlier this week, the striker will be available to move for a fee worth £63m (€75m, $81m) once the current season ends, with Sporting’s stance on his sale softening.

Any move to bring him to United would also be welcomed by two former United stars in Rio Ferdinand and Dimitar Berbatov.

And the latter made clear exactly why he thinks a reunion could certainly be on the cards during an appearance on Monday Night Football.

“I think there is a special connection with the coach so maybe we probably are going to see him in a United shirt.”

Berbatov was then asked if he would welcome the 26-year-old’s arrival at United and he added: “From what he is showing right now, I think yes.

“Our strikers at the moment are not producing and scoring goals. We’re 18th in the league [for goals scored so far this season] which is embarrassing for a stature of club like United.

“So this is a position that I would like to see improvement.”

Man Utd latest: Alphonso Davies financial demands / squad’s true feelings on Amorim

Gyokeres is not the only Sporting star being linked with the Red Devils after a report earlier this week named two other stars the new United boss would like to bring with him to Old Trafford.

However, any moves will not come cheap with the Red Devils having to pay as much as £201m if Sporting hold true to the full exit clauses.

Meanwhile, United have also learned the huge financial demands needed to bring Alphonso Davies to Old Trafford in January.

The Bayern Munich star is available as a free agent next summer, but the Canadian has eye-watering costs attached to any move with the total finances of a five-year deal being made clear to Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

TEAMtalk has also learned that United are looking into the possibility of bringing Alvaro Fernandez Carreras back to Old Trafford, though we can exclusively reveal the buy-back arrangement inserted into his deal does contain some clauses that make a deal slightly more difficult than initially expected.

Elsewhere, the United squad’s true feeling on the appointment of Amorim, and on the sacking of Ten Hag, has also come to light.

How Gyokeres compared to other attackers in the Premier League last season