Manchester United made a last-gasp attempt to hijack Arsenal’s deal for Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres.
The Gunners have been in negotiations with Sporting for some time over the structure of the transfer fee for Gyokeres and may have left the door open for their Premier League rivals.
Gyokeres is desperate to leave Sporting in the summer transfer window and things have got increasingly bitter between the Swedish striker and his current employers.
After threatening to go on strike, the ex-Coventry player appeared to have got his wish when Arsenal chose him over Benjamin Sesko.
Also Read: Gyokeres Parts Ways With Girlfriend Amid Sporting Transfer Saga
It emerged last weekend that Arsenal and Sporting had verbally agreed a deal in principle worth an initial £55million plus £8.6m in add-ons and bonuses.
However, continued discussions involving Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta and Sporting chiefs have so far failed to yield a full agreement.
The sticking point is the way the deal is structured and the delays have meant that Arsenal have been unable to sign Gyokeres in time for their pre-season tour of Asia.
While this appeared to simply be a bump in the road on Gyokeres’ way to north London, it could now become something more serious, with Portuguese media dropping a bombshell on Sunday.
According to Mirror, SIC now reports that Arsenal’s deal is ‘increasingly at risk’. They say Arsenal’s fixed offer is set at £55m, which rises to £60m)
because Gyokeres’ agent waived his £5.6m commission. And that rigid structure is not acceptable for Sporting.
Record, meanwhile, says United have now dropped a new bid on the table which is worth between £60-69m. The newspaper notes that Gyokeres – who played under Ruben Amorim at Sporting – still only wants to join Arsenal, but it is still a curveball in the transfer saga.
