Reports on “Gentleman’s Agreement”
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Viktor Gyökeres is the most accurate player in Europe so far this season and demonstrated his outstanding form with a hat-trick against Manchester City: 23 goals in 16 games make the center forward from Sporting Lisbon a candidate for a top transfer. However, according to the Times and Telegraph, the exit clause of 100 million euros is not his employer’s pain threshold – Sporting has assured the Swede that he can move in the summer of 2025 with an offer of 75 million to 85 million euros. There is talk of a “gentlemen’s agreement”.
This sum would create a club transfer record. The most expensive sale since January 2020 is Bruno Fernandes, who moved to Manchester United for 65 million euros. Successful coach Rúben Amorim will take the same path next week, for which the Red Devils will transfer around 11 million euros to Sporting. Amorim assured the fans of his current employer that he will not bring a Sporting professional to Manchester – at least not in the coming winter transfer window.
“I’ve just made my peace with the Sporting fans, so I won’t even joke about it,” said Amorim when asked whether players would follow him to United. He did not want to rule out arrivals from Lisbon in the summer of 2025. If Gyökeres maintains his fabulous quota, he will probably become one of the 15 most expensive center forwards in football history in 2025 and bring Sporting a big transfer increase.
In the summer of 2023, the Lions brought the Swedish international from Coventry City for 24 million euros and the English second division team secured a resale share of ten percent of the profit on the next transfer. It has since increased its market value to 70 million euros. “Gyokeres is a Sporting player, which is a great club. He has done a lot for the club and he just has to stay and finish the season at the club,” said Amorim.
Transfermarkt’s Portugal expert Marcel de Almeida believes that the fans of the competition can hardly wait for Gyökeres to leave the Portuguese league again: “I assume that he will move to the Premier League in the summer, if not already in January Club is willing to pay his release clause of 100 million euros.” In 67 games for Sporting, Gyökeres was directly involved in 85 goals and ended the 2023/24 season not only as Portuguese champions, but also as the most dangerous player in Europe ahead of Harry Kane.
