Manchester United have reportedly been offered the chance to steal Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres from under the noses of Arsenal.
Arsenals striker needs are well known, with injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz last season requiring midfielder Mikel Merino to step up front as an auxiliary target man.
The Gunners are widely reported to have narrowed their search primarily to just one man, Gyokeres, but there could yet be a twist in the tale.
Manchester United offered chance to disrupt Arsenals Gyokeres deal
United are another club who have been touted as a potential landing spot for Gyokeres, ranked at no.8 in FourFourTwo's list of the best strikers in the world right now, with their manager Ruben Amorim having already managed the Swede at Sporting before making his way to Old Trafford.
The Red Devils need a reliable no.9 with their current main striker, Rasmus Hojlund, only managing four league goals last season. With Arsenal dragging their feet, theyve been offered one final chance.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Sporting have offered United a last-minute chance to steal a march on Arsenal over Gyokeres.
Overnight, the night between Monday and Tuesday, agents close to Sporting offered again to Manchester United the opportunity to enter into the deal and try to hijack the move, Romano reported via his YouTube channel.
He continued: So basically, what they did in this kind of case is to tell Man United something like: if you want, Arsenal are offering this, but theyve not closed the deal yet. So, if you want, you can still enter and reach an agreement with Sporting.
Its also very important to say that at the same moment, the message from Viktor Gykeres and his agent to Arsenal has been very clear: I only want to go to Arsenal.'
In FourFourTwos view, this feels more like the Portuguese side making a final play for some extra money, rather than interest United are definitely going to pursue.
If the contract to sell Gyokeres to Arsenal has not yet been signed, then Sporting would be the main beneficiaries of the Red Devils entering the race, creating a bidding war and pushing the price of the striker up, leveraging each Premier League side against the other.
Its therefore no wonder Sporting are keen to offer United the chance to enter the race, but it still feels unlikely that they will at this stage, especially with the strikers known preference to be north London.
Gyokeres is worth 75m, according to Transfermarkt.
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