LIVERPOOL TO SELL DARWIN NUNEZ AND REPLACE HIM WITH FANTASTIC STRIKER . journalist hopes Viktor Gyokeres joins Liverpool with Man Utd facing brutal snub Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres next to the badges of Liverpool….

Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres has been urged to ignore the temptation to reunite with Ruben Amorim at Manchester United and instead wait on a move to Liverpool instead, with the Swede’s opinion on a move to Old Trafford also likely to sour Red Devils’ fans’ opinion of the star.

Gyokeres has proved an absolute revelation in Portugal since sealing a bargain €20m move from Coventry in summer 2023, blitzing his way to an astonishing 66 goals in 68 games for the Primeira Liga champions. As a result, the 26-year-old frontman has transformed himself into one of the most wanted and most talked about players in the world game, with Gyokeres‘ qualities in front of goal recently illustrated to an English audience with a Champions League hat-trick against Manchester City.

Now the man who brought him to Portugal and helped transform him into the player he is today, Amorim, is being tipped to make the 143-goal marksman one of his first targets for the 39-year-old coach’s new club Manchester United.

Such a deal would not come cheap, however. Gyokeres has a mammoth $105.7m (£83.7m, €100m) exit clause in his Sporting contract and while it is speculated that the Portuguese giants could accept a lower fee come the summer, his suitors are likely to require a huge sum to convince the Portuguese side to sell.

However, CNN reporter Andre Pipa, speaking to Maisfutebol, has urged Gyokeres to turn his back on a reunion with Amorim at Old Trafford and instead hold out for a move to their fierce rivals Liverpool.

Pipa said: “They [United] have a coach who knows him, and I don’t know what Gyokeres idea is, whether he likes it or not, I personally prefer to see him in Liverpool.

“But if he has to go to United, I think it is a great contract for Amorim, because Amorim knows him, and the player knows the coach, and you know, there is a possibility, yes.”

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Regardless of where he ends up, there is a strong belief that Sporting will have little choice but to consider the sale of their prized asset come the summer.

And with their financial needs likely to see the player on the move in 2025, former Premier League defender Jose Fonte has explained why a move is a necessity.

“Portuguese clubs have got no option but to sell for the right price. We need to sell. Portuguese clubs have to sell one or two players every season,” Fonte is quoted as telling the Daily Mirror.

Fonte, now 40 and still going strong with Primeira Liga side Casa Pia, added: “We don’t have the same TV rights as the Premier League so we don’t have the capacity to hold on to players. It would be lovely to see Portugal with a little bit more capacity to hold on to their talent, of course.