Manchester United and Arsenal are leading the Premier League interest in Sporting Lisbon star Viktor Gyokeres but they could face serious interest from overseas following an eye-watering contract offer
Juventus are aiming to sell EIGHT stars including Dusan Vlahovic and Douglas Luiz to finance their eye-watering deal for Viktor Gyokeres. The Sporting Lisbon striker has been at the centre of a transfer tug of war between Arsenal and Manchester United throughout the majority of the summer.
But Italian side Juventus have attempted to muscle in on a deal over recent days. It’s been claimed in Italy that the Serie A giants are willing to offer Gyokeres a stunning £11m-per-year deal to snub Premier League interest and move to Turin.
But the club need to bring in some serious funds in order to afford that contract offer, as well as the €80m plus €10m in add ons (£68.1m plus £8.5m) fee that Sporting are demanding for their star forward. According to Corriere dello Sport, Juventus already have eight players in mind to potentially sell this summer.
Right at the top of that list sit Vlahovic and former Aston Villa star Luiz, who could fetch around £50m between them. Lloyd Kelly, who was only signed permanently from Newcastle this summer, could also be sold.
Samuel Mbangula, Daniele Rugani, Filip Kostic, Mattia Perin and Arkadiusz Milik are all candidates to bid farewell, with Juventus hopeful of earning around £85m from all of their sales this summer. And while Juve are aiming to invest those funds in a deal for Gyokeres, the Italian side do have alternatives in mind.
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Former loanee Randal Kolo Muani remains an option, while Jonathan David could also be a bargain signing after leaving Lille at the end of his contract. Italian-based forwards Victor Osimhen and Mateo Retegui have also reportedly been considered, although neither would come cheap.
It remains to be seen if Juventus’ efforts are enough to convince Gyokeres to move to Italy. But either way, his potential exit from Sporting has turned bitter with previous reports suggesting he was willing to go on strike in order to force a move away from the club.
Gyokeres then took to Instagram to give his side of the story. He wrote: “There is a lot of talks at the moment, most of it is false. I will speak when the time is right.”
Where do you think Gyokeres should go? Share your thoughts in the comments below
Meanwhile, Sporting president Federico Varandas has confirmed that his side won’t be bullied into selling his star forward. Speaking to Record, he said: “One thing you should already know is me better. Threats, blackmail and insults don’t work with me.
“I can guarantee that Viktor Gyökeres will not leave for €60m+10m (£51m+£8.5m) because I never promised him that. This game that the agent is playing only makes the situation worse. To this day, Sporting has not had an offer for Viktor Gyökeres, neither today nor last season.”
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