Amorim makes immediate Man Utd transfer decision over Sporting Lisbon stars

Incoming Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has ruled out raiding Sporting Lisbon for players during the January transfer window.

Amorim is poised to join United on November 11, having signed a contract until June 2027 to succeed Erik ten Hag. The 39-year-old has two more matches as Sporting boss before then, with the Portuguese giants insisting he serve out a short notice period before leaving.

And while he is preparing to face Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday, Amorim already has one eye on United. He wants to mould the United squad in his own image, but has conceded that he simply won’t be able to parachute in Sporting’s biggest stars in the next transfer window.

Like many big European sides, Viktor Gyokeres is of interest to United, having scored 20 goals already this season. But Amorim knows better than most the price tag Sporting have slapped on the Sweden international.

“I’m not going to get any players from Sporting in January,” he conceded. “Gyokeres costs €100million and it’s very difficult.”

Former Coventry and Brighton striker Gyokeres has already addressed the rumours that he might follow his manager to Old Trafford. He said: “Going with Amorim to Man United? I don’t know, I’m here. I really like being here, it’s not something I think about. I’m enjoying it here. I’m sad about him leaving. We wish him all the best”.

Amorim will have to bring forward his original plans for United, having revealed on Friday night that he wanted to stay at Sporting until the end of the season before joining the club. “The only request I made was that it would be at the end of the season and they told me that wasn't possible, that it was now or never,” he said.

Gyokeres is certainly the most obvious player Amorim might want to lure to Old Trafford once he’s through the door. The 26-year-old striker has 20 goals in 16 games this season, after netting four on Friday night, and has 63 goals in 66 matches for Sporting altogether.

Sporting managed to fend off interest from rival clubs over the summer with Gyokeres’ €100m (£84m) release clause doing its job. But they know that they can’t hold onto him forever and that Gyokeres himself is ambitious.

“It (the release clause) was probably a bit too much because nothing came of it,” Gyokeres told Sport Bladet in September. “Of course, it’s a lot of money. But we’ll see what happens next window… I enjoy myself very much in Sporting and can’t complain about anything, so it’s absolutely no problem for me to stay. Of course, you aim to test other leagues and a higher level, but I have no stress.”

Amorim has also been linked with other players from the club he’s led to two league titles since 2020. Centre-backs Ousmane Diomande and Goncalo Inaci, club captain Morten Hjulmand and youngster Geovany Quenda have all been mentioned in reports over the past few days.