Man Utd 'close to hijacking Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal transfer' with sensational late bid
Arsenal's failure to agree terms with Sporting Lisbon for Viktor Gyokeres could come back to bite them after Manchester United made a last-gasp attempt to hijack the deal. The Gunners have been in negotiations with Sporting for some time over the structure of the transfer fee for Gyokeres and may have left the door open for their Premier League rivals.
Gyokeres is desperate to leave Sporting in the summer transfer window and things have got increasingly bitter between the Swedish striker and his current employers. After threatening to go on strike, the ex-Coventry player appeared to have got his wish when Arsenal chose him over Benjamin Sesko.
It emerged last weekend that Arsenal and Sporting had verbally agreed a deal in principle worth an initial £55million plus £8.6m in add-ons and bonuses. However, continued discussions involving Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta and Sporting chiefs have so far failed to yield a full agreement.
The sticking point is the way the deal is structured and the delays have meant that Arsenal have been unable to sign Gyokeres in time for their pre-season tour of Asia. While this appeared to simply be a bump in the road on Gyokeres' way to north London, it could now become something more serious, with Portuguese media dropping a bombshell on Sunday.
SIC now reports that Arsenal's deal is 'increasingly at risk'. They say Arsenal's fixed offer is set at €63.5m (£55m), which rises to €70m (£60m) because Gyokeres' agent waived his €6.5m (£5.6m) commission. And that rigid structure is not acceptable for Sporting.
Record, meanwhile, says United have now dropped a new bid on the table which is worth between €70-80million (£60-69m). The newspaper notes that Gyokeres - who played under Ruben Amorim at Sporting - still only wants to join Arsenal, but it is still a curveball in the transfer saga.
The 27-year-old is under contract with Sporting until June 2028 and Sporting president Federico Varandas has been happy to play hard ball in negotiations – and make his stance plain in public. 'If they don't want to pay Viktor's fair market value, we're very comfortable with that for the next three years," he said recently.
"This strategy is also making it more complicated for the player to leave. Nobody is above the interests of the club. Whoever they are. We're calm. Everything will be resolved with the market closing, a hefty fine and an apology to the group.'
Gyokeres has indeed refused to report for pre-season training to incur a fine. "One thing you should already know is me better," Varandas previously stated. "Threats, blackmail and insults don't work with me.
"I can guarantee that Viktor Gyökeres will not leave for €60m+10m because I never promised him that. This game that the agent is playing only makes the situation worse. To this day, Sporting has not had an offer for Viktor Gyökeres, neither today nor last season."
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