Huge Price Tag: Sporting set price for Chelsea transfer target Viktor Gyokeres
Sporting have slapped a €50million (£43m) price tag on Viktor Gyokeres as Arsenal, Chelsea and AC Milan line up moves for the forward ahead of the summer transfer window.
Gyokeres has scored 36 goals in 39 games for Sporting and is one of the form attacking players in European football this term, with the green and whites sitting pretty at the top of the Primeira Liga table.
Sporting signed Gyokeres from Coventry City for a fee of just €20million (£17m) last summer and in the space of just six months, Europe’s elite are queueing up to prise the Sweden international away from Lisbon.
Gyokeres’ eye-watering €100m (£86m) release clause at Estadio Jose Alvalade has been well documented, but Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport indicate that Sporting could be prepared to agree a deal for half that price.
It’s claimed Milan have been monitoring Gyokeres since before his move to Sporting and view the attacker as a possible long-term replacement for veteran centre-forward Olivier Giroud.
The Rossoneri believe Zlatan Ibrahomovic, now a senior advisor at the San Siro, could prove a key factor in convincing Gyokeres, the legendary striker’s fellow Swede, to choose Milan.
However, the report states that Premier League giants Arsenal and Chelsea are ‘in the front row’ to capture Gyokeres, adding that Milan would find it ‘impossible to keep up’ should a bidding war take place between Europe’s heavy hitters.
Gyokeres has been keen to distance himself from rumours of a big-money summer switch, insisting he remains focussed on seeing out a successful end to the season with Sporting.
‘I don’t think much about it now actually,’ he told the Swedish media while on international duty.
‘I want to win the league and the cup with Sporting – that’s where I’m putting all my energy and strength.
Pressed on speculation linking him with Europe’s top teams, Gyokeres added: ‘It’s a sign that I’ve been performing well, but it’s not something I take too seriously.
‘It’s just speculation, but it’s good and fun to talk about.
‘We’ll see what happens in the summer, I don’t know what will happen. But I really like Sporting and I don’t feel stressed at all for what’s to come.’
