Manchester United recently confirmed the departure of manager Erik ten Hag following the 2-1 Premier League defeat at West Ham United.
Ruud van Nistelrooy is under interim charge at the moment, but the club have confirmed that Ruben Amorim will take control from November 11.
The Portuguese tactician comes with a huge reputation, having helped Sporting CP win the Primeira Liga title after a long gap of 19 seasons.
Viktor Gyokeres was pivotal to the success with 29 goals from 33 league games and he has fared much better in the current league campaign.
The Swede has already netted 16 times from 10 league outings and it may not be long before he pursues a bigger challenge away from Sporting.
Following the 5-1 win over Estrela last night, Amorim was asked plenty of questions and one of those was based on reuniting with Gyokeres at United.
The 39-year-old revealed that Gyokeres will cost £83.7 million and it would be very difficult to pursue a deal during the winter transfer window.
Amorim added that he is not going to pick up any Sporting CP player this winter.
He said (via Goal.com): “Gyokeres costs €100 million (£83.7m) and it’s very difficult. I’m not going to pick up any Sporting player in January.”
United have had to deal with Profitability and Sustainability issues over the past few seasons and the situation may not improve in the near future.
From Amorim’s comments, it is quite clear that United won’t be making a marquee signing when the transfer window reopens at the turn of the year.
Gyokeres is unlikely to be affordable. The same goes for other Sporting CP stars such as Ousmane Diomande, Goncalo Inacio and Morten Hjulmand.
All of those players have huge release clauses on their contracts, and Sporting CP could be reluctant to negotiate a long-term payment plan in January.
As usual, United could be cautious with their transfer strategy this winter. Alvaro Fernandez could be re-signed from Benfica with the buy-back clause available.
Other than that, we don’t see any permanent transfer activity. The club could look at a loan deal or two. A big spending spree may not happen until next summer.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
