Viktor Gyokeres makes January transfer decision as Man Utd and Barcelona target prolific Sporting CP striker

Gyokeres is believed to have no desire to leave Sporting before the end of the season. Spanish publication AS has reported that a meeting with agent, Hasan Cetinkaya, saw the Sweden international communicate that preference.

A late-blooming Gyokeres has emerged as one of the most talked about strikers in Europe this season thanks to his 73 goals across all competitions for Sporting since the start of last season - including 30 by the halfway stage of the current campaign. Having thrived under Ruben Amorim at Sporting, the links with Manchester United have been obvious and to be expected. Barcelona are also considering a future beyond Robert Lewandowski but they continue to struggle financially.

Gyokeres had never played a single minute of top-flight football prior to joining Sporting in the summer of 2023 but has a reported €100m (£83m/$103m) release clause in his contract with the Lisbon giants and they are likely to demand that it is triggered before the club let him go.

Assuming that Gyokeres probably will move onto a bigger stage than Sporting in the summer, he has another half a season to make it the very best he can. The 26-year-old is on course to beat the 43 goals he scored last season and could perhaps even get close to 60 at club level alone if he keeps up his current pace. Besides, Barcelona might prefer resolving his future to wait until summer because it gives them time to scrap together the funds that would be needed.