Rio Ferdinand warns Man Utd over signing top Amorim target as £66.8m star greenlights move

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has been warned to think twice before signing Viktor Gyokeres for the Red Devils with Rio Ferdinand quick to highlight the striker’s weaknesses and amid claims the player had made a move to Old Trafford his top choice.

The Red Devils once again looked toothless on Sunday as they were held to a 1-1 draw in Sunday’s clash at Ipswich Town in what was Amorim’s first match in charge. Failing to build on Marcus Rashford’s early strike, it means Manchester United have scored just 13 goals from their 12 Premier League matches to date – already a tally 14 behind the division’s top scorers, Tottenham, who have 27 to their name so far.

Strengthening the attack and giving his side much more of a cutting edge in front of goal will no doubt be something that Amorim looks to fix over the coming weeks and months. However, they are being strongly linked with a move to bring Sporting CP hitman Gyokeres to Old Trafford in 2025, with the Swede having blitzed his way to a stunning tally of 67 goals in 69 games since signing for the Portuguese side.

However, amid claims Gyokeres can leave for a fee of €80m (£66.8m, $84.1m) and has made a move to Old Trafford his top priority in 2025, a hesitant Ferdinand has warned Amorim that the former Coventry man might not be quite as good as his numbers suggest.

Reflecting on the blank Gyokeres drew in Sporting’s crushing 5-1 Champions League defeat to Arsenal, Ferdinand had a strong warning.

“His strengths played into the strengths of the two central defenders he was up against and that’s what he’d find in the Premier League week in week out,” Ferdinand told TNT Sport.

“Two big strong centre halves the majority of the time. Can he deal with them?

‘It wasn’t until Gabriel went off that he actually got a bit of joy against Kiwior, a player who’s not as big and not as strong.

“These two centre halve are the best as a partnership and they didn’t give him an ounce the whole game. He’s been crucifying teams in those areas running the channels, these guys look supremely comfortable in doing that.

“Have I seen enough to say he can come to the Premier League and be a success? I’m not saying he wouldn’t, but I’m saying you’d need to see more than what we saw today.”

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Keown credits Arsenal defence as Amorim cools Gyokeres transfer chances

Ferdinand’s fellow pundit Martin Keown agreed with that assessment though chose instead to pass the credit to the brilliant Gunners defence, which was once again expertly marshalled by Gabriel and William Saliba.

“Totally agree, but credit to the Arsenal boys, they rose to the challenge and they are quick, strong, mobile and dealt with pretty much everything that came their way.

“[Jakub] Kiwior came on and had a little bit of an issue but he wasn’t able to bully them. They didn’t give him an awful lot of the ball but here he was shooting early because he didn’t fancy taking on Gabriel.

“They showed their quality tonight.”

Amorim, meanwhile, has moved to cool down speculation that he could look to reunite with his former striker at Old Trafford.

“If I start joking about this Gyokeres situation I’ll get in trouble,” Amorim told Portuguese outlet A Bola shortly before the 39-year-old departed from the Jose Alvalade Stadium.

“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.”

Sporting president Frederico Vandaras, however, has refused to rule out a departure for their star man, though suggests a summer switch looks more likely.

“I can’t promise anything. If a club arrives and pays the release clause, if he (Gyokeres) wants to go, he will go,” Varandas said, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano. “But I do not think this will happen in January.”

Latest Man Utd transfer news: Rashford, Hojlund sale decisions; Ederson transfer battle

Amorim, meanwhile, has reportedly reached a surprise decision on whether to sell one or both of Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund amid increasing speculation Gyokeres is heading to Manchester United.

The Dane was overlooked for a starting place by Amorim on Sunday at Ipswich and while Rashford got on the scoresheet inside two minutes, though there was little else to speak of in his display. Now the United boss has reportedly reached a verrdict on the duo’s immediate futures.

Elsewhere, United are being linked with an extraordinary move to bring Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Old Trafford in 2025 amid claims they are willing to offer him a mammoth wage to ditch Gli Azzurri.

And finally, United have been listed as a suitor for Atalanta midfielder Ederson, with Man City and Liverpool also keen. However, our reporter Rudy Galetti, reporting from Italy, has revealed the Bergamo outfit would require a ‘monster’ fee to sell one of their prized assets in the winter window.

How Gyokeres took his game to the next level under Amorim

They only worked together for 16 months, but it was a transformative collaboration between Amorim and Gyokeres in Lisbon.

Gyokeres was already a prominent Championship-level striker with Coventry. It was obvious he was too good for the second tier – but it turns out he’s even better than people thought back then.

Gyokeres scored 66 goals from 68 games under Amorim’s guidance. It means Amorim is the coach he has scored the most goals for in his career, surpassing Mark Robins.

Gyokeres had scored as many goals under Amorim as his former Coventry boss (43) by the end of his debut season in Lisbon.

Those 43 goals under Robins came over 116 appearances, which emphasises the astonishing rate Gyokeres has scored under Amorim.

Not to mention he has also made more assists under Amorim (23) than any other coach (Robins again being the runner-up with 17).

Amorim certainly unlocked Gyokeres’ potential to reach the next level on the European stage and the striker can only hope to continue in a similar vein under a different coach – unless they do reunite one day.