Over the past couple of seasons, Viktor Gyökeres is turning heads for his ability to find the back of the net. The Sporting Lisbon forward, who rose through the ranks at Brighton before a move to Coventry City in the Championship, has skyrocketed since joining the Portuguese champions in 2023, scoring 43 goals in his debut season. The Swedish international has picked up where he left off this term, but it will be interesting to see what happens when manager Ruben Amorim joins Manchester United – a move that turned the heads of those making a bet on Premier League football.
Indeed, Amorim guided Sporting to the Liga Portugal title and looks set to keep their unbeaten run intact before the international break, when he will swap the José AlvaladeStadium for Old Trafford and join Manchester United.
The 39-year-old has a big task on his hands when he arrives at the Red Devils. Erik ten Hag was relieved of his duties following the club’s worst start to a Premier League season, sitting 14th in the table at the time of his sacking. It leaves Amorim with plenty to do, but Gyökeres could ease some of that pressure.
The striker has shown he can score a variety of goals and has the physical presence to make the step up and return to English football, this time in the top flight. An impressive hat-trick for Sporting against Manchester City in the Champions League will have put his name in the shop window for the few who were unfamiliar with his game, and you could argue the 26-year-old has already adorned himself to the red half of the city.
With summer signing Joshua Zirkzee failing to score since his United debut, and Rasmus Hojlund in and out of the team with injuries, it’s clear Amorim will need a new talisman, and with 16 goals in his first 10 games – four of which in a recent win over Estrela Amadora – he could be the answer to their prayers.
“This guy, Viktor Gyokeres, he’s scoring goals for fun right now,” former United forward Dimitar Berbatov said. “So I think there’s a special connection with the coach, so maybe we are probably going to see him in a United shirt at some point.”
“From what he’s showing right now, our strikers at the moment are not doing and producing goals like we see with them 18th in the league for scoring goals, which is embarrassing for a club of the stature of United. This is a position that I’d like to see improvement.”
Prising Gyökeres away from Sporting is a task in itself. The 26-year-old will command a significant transfer fee, with United needing to trigger the £84 million release clause to make the signing. While that may put the Red Devils off, there will be enough suiters from other Premier League clubs who will also be sniffing around the striker’s signature.
Chelsea are also looking to improve their goalscoring department. Nicolas Jackson is their only out-and-out number nine, and while the Senegal international has been in good form, Enzo Maresca is relying on him to be fit all season, with the likes of Joao Felix and Marc Guiu unlikely to step up in his absence.
Elsewhere, Arsenal missed out on Benjamin Sesko over the summer, so could be interested in adding another striker to the mix as they look to chase back valuable points that have already been dropped this season.
Gyökeres has been in sensational form for Sporting Lisbon, and a move away from Portugal seems inevitable. Only time will tell if he arrives on English shores, or attracts another European superpower before the end of the season.
