Viktor Gyokeres is set to be the subject of a mad dash for his signature after it emerged the Sporting striker could be available for under £70million next summer.
The Swede hit a hat-trick against Manchester City on Tuesday and he now has 66 goals in 67 Sporting matches.
New Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim, the outgoing Sporting boss, quashed talk of Gyokeres leaving in January. But United may move for him in the summer, with Arsenal and Chelsea also interested.
Gyokeres, 26, has a £84m release clause in his contract but Sporting are believed to be expecting bids from £60m.
Asked whether he was interested in bringing Gyokeres to United, Amorim said on Tuesday night: ‘No, no, no. I cannot be funny with that in this moment.
Viktor Gyokeres is attracting interest from top clubs across Europe thanks to his stellar displays for Sporting
The 26-year-old scored a hat-trick in Sporting shock 4-1 win over Manchester City on Tuesday
‘It was tough for me to leave, if I start joking about that with Gyokeres, I’ll have problems. This is my city, this is my country, I will respect.
‘Viktor has to stay until the end of the season and then his life is going, maybe, somewhere else.’
The Swede has had an electrifying couple of seasons since joining Sporting from Coventry in July 2023 for £16m plus £3.5m in bonuses.
Well aware of his vast potential, the Sky Blues inserted a clause in the deal securing 10 to 15 per cent of any future transfer.
And Gyokeres has delivered, placing himself on the cusp of a huge move thanks to a glut of goals over the last 15 months.
In just 43 league games since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, the striker has slotted home 45 times at a rate of a goal every 84 minutes.
His efficiency in front of goal is, indeed, remarkable and this is borne out in the statistics with Gyokeres scoring with 27.6 per cent of his attempts.
Gyokeres was not asked about a possible move to United but said of Amorim: ‘We will miss him a lot, of course.
‘We achieved a lot together and we will miss him and the other members of the staff, but they are leaving and we have to move on and face the next challenge we have.’
