CONFIRMED: Amorim has Gyokeres plan for Hojlund and Zirkzee

Ruben Amorim will not necessarily seek to sign his old Sporting CP ally Viktor Gyokeres when he arrives at Manchester United – but he may instead seek to make one of the Red Devils existing forwards in Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee an equivalent player.

Gyokeres has become the hottest property on the transfer market following a hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League in midweek, which has underscored his blistering start to the season.

Amorim, though, has already said the striker is untouchable in January.

As such, he’s planning to develop Hojlund or Zirkzee into the next Gyokeres, a player who has been told he’s an upgrade on prolific Man City forward Erling Haaland.

“He’s probably the hottest target in Europe right now, with everyone looking. That’s the impact of this form, as well as the greater focus on Amorim himself. That’s all the more pronounced since there is such a premium on young goal scorers,” Miguel Delaney reported in his newsletter.

“Man Utd know that all too well. It perhaps says something about the development of modern strikers, given Gyokeres was someone who had been passed over and almost dismissed for some time. He revelled under Amorim, and it has already been discussed at Old Trafford how the Portuguese can perhaps have a similar effect on Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee. That topic did come up in negotiations.”

CONFIRMED: Viktor Gyokeres’ perfect transfer move

Darwin Nunez all over again?

The premium that has been placed on Gyokeres’ head is evident.

Sporting demanded in the summer that his €100 million release clause be met if he were to leave the club, with Arsenal and Chelsea both interested in him at that point.

While there are now indications he could leave for something more like €70m, this is still well above his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €42.7m.

His ETV may seem low given how prolific he has been, yet the case of Darwin Nunez shows that simply being prolific in Portugal is no guarantee of Premier League success.

Liverpool spent an initial €75m on the striker after he netted 34 goals for Benfica in 2021/22, yet he has only managed 35 for the Reds in all competitions since and has proven poor value for money. When he moved to Anfield, his ETV was around €40m.

Gyokeres finds himself in almost exactly this same position, and while that is no guarantee the outcome will be the same, Man Utd, Arsenal or Chelsea should be careful how much money they commit towards him.