I would love to play at Old Trafford – £63m Sporting CP striker fuels Man Utd transfer claims as star names Red Duo as his football icons

I would love to play at Old Trafford – £63m Sporting CP striker fuels Man Utd transfer claims as star names Red Duo as his football icons

Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres may have added fuel to Manchester United transfer links after admitting former Red Devils stars Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo are his idols.

The prolific scorer has been connected to Manchester United for a while, and this is probably going to get more intense now that his former manager Ruben Amorim traded Sporting CP for Old Trafford last month.

Gyokeres has made 72 appearances for the Portuguese team since signing from Coventry City, scoring an incredible 68 goals and dishing out 19 assists, which has led numerous European powerhouses to try to recruit him.

One such squad pursuing the 26-year-old is United, as summer acquisition Joshua Zirkzee hasn’t performed well thus far and attacker Rasmus Hojlund is still erratic at the Premier League outfit.

According to reports, the Sweden international might move Sporting next summer for as much as €70 million (£57.8 million, $73.7 million), despite having a €100 million (£83 million, $106 million) release clause.

The former was at the Red Devils between 2003-09 and became one of the greatest players of all time and his fellow Swede Ibrahimovic spent two years at the club (2016-18) after forging a stunning career of his own.

Gyokeres told UEFA: “The players I looked up to were Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s about how they performed on the pitch, they went the extra mile, which impressed me. I wanted to do similar things on the pitch.”

Gyokeres coy over his future
TEAMtalk previously revealed that Gyokeres, who was playing Championship football last year and is now one of the most sought-after strikers in world football, is wanted by United, Paris Saint-Germain, and Newcastle United.

Other reports have suggested that the former Brighton and Hove Albion player, who never really got a chance at the Amex, is a top target for Amorim but whether the two can reunite remains to be seen.

Gyokeres himself gave little away when asked about the prospect of following his old manager to the Premier League.

He told Fotboll Skanalen in November: “He [Amorim] probably has some strikers there already, so we’ll see. No, he hasn’t [asked me to join him]. It’s fun but nothing I attach any importance to because it’s talk and nothing concrete.”

Gyokeres added, via Fabrizio Romano: “‘I want to finish this season at Sporting. I love it here. We will see [about a new club] when the time comes. I want to play, that’s crucial, and there will be also other factors.”