Coventry City transfer news from CoventryLive as former Sky Blues star Viktor Gyokeres is asked about interest from some of the top clubs in Europe
Viktor Gyokeres is another transfer gift that is expected to keep giving to Coventry City over the coming years. This week his new club Sporting Lisbon officially revealed that the Sky Blues received an initial €20m (£17.5m) for the Swedish international, with another €4m due in bonuses “added upon achieving objectives,” which are usually based on the usual performance criteria of games played and goals.
That could see Coventry eventually receive a total of €24m, which is just short of £21m. And with a sizeable sell-on clause, which could be as high as 15% depending on whether he hits his targets, the Championship club will benefit from any future sale of the striker.
He’s only been in Portugal for a few short months, of course, but after hitting an incredible 12 goals in his first 14 competitive matches in the Primeira Liga, Europa League and Allianz Cup for Sporting, the Portuguese press are already linking him with interest from a number of higher profile clubs, including Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla, while a number of “big English clubs” are also said to be monitoring the player.
It’s not, therefore, beyond the realms of possibility that he will be the subject of concrete bids from elsewhere come next summer, even though he’ll only be 12 months into a five year deal at Sporting.
Speaking while on international duty with Sweden to fotbollskanalen this week, Gyokeres said of his blistering start to his season: “I have been given a good role in the team and it has clicked with the teammates and the coaches.”
As for the attention and interest around him, with the press linking him with high profile clubs in Europe, he said: “It’s fun, but it’s not something I have thought about too much. I just arrived at Sporting so I’m not focused on that right now.”
Asked how far ahead he sees himself at Sporting and what he thinks about his future, he said: “I haven’t thought about it that much actually. We’re not even halfway through the season yet. I came last summer. It is very early.”
Sporting, meanwhile, are safe in the knowledge that he’s pretty secure for the time being, with head coach Ruben Amorim stating that the club only intends to release Gyökeres if any club activates his buyout clause of around £88million.
