Manchester United have been handed a huge boost in their bid to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting as a 'gentleman's agreement' has been reached over his transfer.
Gyokeres has been on fire ever since joining the Portuguese side from Coventry in the summer of 2023, scoring an incredible 74 goals in 79 appearances to help Sporting to the league title last season and to the top of the table this term.
Most of those goals came under Ruben Amorim before he moved to Manchester United in November, and reports suggest the new Red Devils head coach is very keen on bringing Gyokeres to Old Trafford as soon as possible.
The transfer may have to wait until the summer (much to Amorim's disappointment) as United are currently operating a buy-to-sell policy, and although Marcus Rashford looks set to leave the club that will only be on loan, and they aren't blessed with a too many transferable assets besides; Kobbie Mainoo's 'untouchable' status being rescinded testament to that.
Sporting are also unlikely to allow Gyokeres to leave in the middle of the season, particularly after Amorim gave them his word that he wouldn't be poaching players for United in January.
But if and when the two sides are negotiating the deal, the Red Devils won't have to stump up quite so much money for Gyokeres according to Portuguese outlet Record.
It's claimed 'Sporting have a gentleman's agreement to allow the striker to leave the club for as little as between £58.6m and £62.8m'.
A similar agreement has bene hinted at in the past, but it wasn't clear how far under this £83m release clause he would be allowed to move for.
United will face competition for Gyokeres though, with reports of a Bayern 'hijack' on the cards, while Barcelona are also said to be keeping tabs on the 26-year-old.
Should he move to Old Trafford he would be competing with Rasmus Hojlund for a place in the first XI and we reckon we know which player former United defender Paul Parker thinks would win that battle.
Hojlund has scored just 23 goals in 66 appearances for United since his £64m move from Atalanta, and Parker is in no doubt as to whether criticism of his performances has been justified.
He told bettingexpert.com: "I definitely think it's justified 100% (criticism from the media). He hasn't been good enough, and he's not the kind of player United need. He constantly falls over, and that's something people are talking about."
"The fans have been patient with him, but the media isn't. I can't see him improving enough, and it doesn't look like he's listening to Amorim."
"He can only make one run, and it's always the same. He doesn't finish properly. We saw again against Alisson, he didn't even challenge him. It was very poor."
"I liked him when he arrived, but for me, it's gone in the wrong direction. Completely. Now, I really doubt he will ever be the striker we need and can rely on.
"Højlund lacks that presence, which someone like Nunez has. But Nunez, for all the right reasons, is dangerous. He can cost you games with his mistakes, but for some reason, the media never mentions it."
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