Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has insisted that he has not spoken with Sporting Lisbon‘s Viktor Gyokeres about the possibility of making the move to Old Trafford during this summer’s transfer window.
The 26-year-old has been in red-hot form for Sporting this term, scoring 52 times and registering 12 assists in 48 appearances in all competitions, including 38 goals and seven assists in 30 league matches.
Gyokeres has a contract in Lisbon until June 2028, but it is widely expected that he will be on the move this summer, with Man United believed to be huge admirers of the Sweden international.
Amorim is thought to be determined to engineer a reunion with the striker this summer, but it has been suggested that the Red Devils will need to secure Champions League qualification for next season in order to sign him.
Man United will book a spot in the 2025-26 European Cup by winning the Europa League, and they will take on Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of their semi-final on Thursday night.
Amorim: ‘I have not spoken to Gyokeres’
“Gyokeres deal? I didn’t talk to him,” Amorim told Sport TV Portugal.
“But if a player only wants to come to Man United to play Champions League, then he won’t come. We want players who want to represent United, not players who want to play certain competitions.”
Gyokeres has a release clause of £85m in his contract, but it is believed that he could leave for as little as £55m due to a gentleman’s agreement that he has with Sporting.
The Swede scored 43 goals and registered 17 assists in 116 appearances for Coventry City before making the move to Sporting, and he has now managed 95 goals and 27 assists in 98 fixtures for the Lisbon giants.
Amorim also name-checked Nico Williams when asked about the threat that Athletic could provide in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday night.
“I think they have a lot of good things. I’m not going to talk about the bad things, but they are really strong as a team, they are really intense, they are really aggressive. Even for a Spanish team, they are really aggressive on every duel,” Amorim told reporters.
“They have great players one against one. Nico Williams is a special player. They are the best defence in Spain in the league and we are not scoring too many goals so it’s going to be a tough match for us.
“We know that in the beginning of the game, 20-30 minutes especially, they are really strong and intense and use the crowd to take the game to a different level and we are prepared for that, so we are going to face a very strong team.”
Williams will be fit to start despite concerns over a troublesome groin problem, and there are set to be a number of eyes on the Spain star, who is believed to be wanted by Arsenal and Chelsea this summer.
