Manchester United target Viktor Gyökeres responded to direct interest from Al-Hilal very quickly on the weekend in an embarrassing moment for the Saudi Pro League outfit.
Bruno Fernandes recently turned down a huge offer from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, opting to stay at Manchester United instead.
That rejection appears to have sparked a wider scramble for marquee signings, with Al-Hilal eager to secure high-profile names ahead of the Club World Cup — but their attempts have largely been unsuccessful so far.
Victor Osimhen was their primary target up front, while they also explored deals for Ederson, Luis Díaz, and Heung-min Son, yet none of those moves are expected to come to fruition.
Now, fresh reports indicate that the Saudi outfit are attempting to hijack United’s move for red-hot Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyökeres.
Gyökeres’ five-word response to Al-Hilal approach
Footmercato reported on Sunday evening that Al-Hilal had officially ‘activated’ their interest in 27-year-old Gyökeres, who was said to be central to the club’s ambitious list of transfer targets.
But it was only a few hours later when L’Équipe, as per Abola, revealed the Sporting striker has responded to the Al-Hilal interest quickly with a firm rejection as his desire is to continue playing in Europe.
In fact, the report also mentioned that Gyökeres team have communicated that he is ‘giving preference to the Premier League‘ this summer – while Al-Hilal would have been slightly embarrassed, missing once again in the transfer window, it’s a promising development for United.
With the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea moving for other strikers, it is starting to feel like United will have a free run at Gyökeres in the coming weeks.
It seems likely that the Reds will attempt to make a move once at least one major sale is made at Old Trafford, with Alejandro Garnacho the most likely departure.
Gyökeres is a risk worth taking
Now, some may argue that having such a free run at Gyökeres despite him scoring over 50 goals last season might be an indication that something’s wrong.
Translating his game to the Premier League will certainly be difficult and there has been such praise in recent weeks for United targeting players who are used to playing in England’s top flight.
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However, other supporters will simply say that this is the type of player who is worth the gamble. Gyökeres is entering the prime years of his career and he’s not an inexperienced kid. He also shined durning his time in the Championship.
It will be a large fee and United need to make sure that they have enough in the transfer kitty to buy another quality midfielder – but if that can happen then it feels the Swede is a risk worth taking.
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