The transfer window is heating up in a big way as July looms large, and one Manchester United target is ready to burn all bridges with his current club.
A window that started with the signing of Matheus Cunha has been in somewhat of a holding pattern since then.
Brentford are driving a hard bargain for Bryan Mbeumo, rejecting two bids already, while the player has made it clear he only wants Man Utd.
However, he hasn’t publicly disrupted his club’s stance so far, which is not what can be said for another Man Utd target who has had enough.
Viktor Gyokeres goes on a scorched earth campaign
The transfer saga of Viktor Gyokeres has arguably been the weirdest one all summer, from his, as well as interested clubs’ point of view.
Gyokeres looked like a no-brainer addition to Man Utd, but then Ruben Amorim’s team fumbled the Europa League final.
Then came Gyokeres’ insistence on playing Champions League football and preference to join Arsenal, which should have ruled him out for Amorim.
However, Arsenal looked elsewhere, Sporting changed their stance on Gyokeres, and the mess that has developed since then has reached a head now.
Sporting president Varandas has been a willing contributor to this mess, while the player’s agent is not faultless either.
Amidst it all, the player himself has maintained silence. Until now, reportedly.
Portuguese outlet Record state that Varandas’ latest comments might have broken the camel’s back, with Gyokeres ready to respond publicly and say his side of the story for the first time.
Gyokeres has burned all bridges with Sporting so this likely will just be a continuation of the saga that looked like it would have a swift conclusion when the window began.
Fabrizio Romano says Gyokeres situation ‘really tense’
While Record report that Gyokeres is preparing to speak publicly, Romano has also given some inside details on what’s happening with the Swede at the moment.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano gave an insight into the ‘really tense’ situation.
He said: “Very tense Sunday for Viktor Gyokeres [after Sporting president’s comments]. He spoke to the president directly and said he doesn’t want to play for Sporting anymore.
“He will not show up for training again. He wants the pact made one year ago to be respected. He has no intention to show up for work, no intention to change his relationship with Sporting.
“He feels betrayed, feels sad. It’s a big fightback from the player and his camp. It’s getting really tense between Sporting and Gyokeres.”
It’s clear that Gyokeres is willing to pull out all stops to leave the club, but doing everything publicly will only convince Sporting to dig in and protect their image after talking so much.
The saga becomes more complicated because Gyokeres is preferring Arsenal, who are going for Sesko, while United don’t have the money to pay Sporting’s price.
This could get ugly and drag into the last stages of the window, which wouldn’t be an ideal outcome for anyone.
If only United won the Europa League final and played in the Champions League next season…
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