Man Utd ‘close to hijacking Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal transfer’ with sensational late bid

Man Utd ‘close to hijacking Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal transfer’ with sensational late bid

After discussions broke down, Manchester United launched a last-ditch attempt to capture Viktor Gyokeres, who had appeared destined to join Arsenal from Sporting Lisbon.

Manchester United made a last-ditch effort to sabotage the deal, so Arsenal’s inability to reach an agreement with Sporting Lisbon for Viktor Gyokeres could backfire.

The Gunners may have opened the door for their Premier League rivals by negotiating with Sporting for a while over the terms of Gyokeres’ transfer price.

The Swedish striker’s relationship with his present employers has grown more acrimonious, and Gyokeres is eager to leave Sporting during the summer transfer window.

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

SIC now reports that Arsenal’s deal is ‘increasingly at risk’. They say Arsenal’s fixed offer is set at €63.5m (£55m), which rises to €70m (£60m) because Gyokeres’ agent waived his €6.5m (£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 €70-80million (£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.