Arsenal and Manchester United are thought to be among the teams interested in doing a deal for Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres this summer but one big club are now out of the running
The race for Viktor Gyokeres is starting to heat up - but the Sweden international will not be joining Barcelona this summer, says the Spanish champions' sporting director, Deco.
Gyokeres, 26, has plundered goals at a remarkable rate since joining Sporting Lisbon on a free transfer from Coventry City two years ago. And with the striker now ready to move on, he has no shortage of suitors across Europe, including in the Premier League.
Arsenal and Manchester United are among the clubs who are weighing up a blockbuster summer move as they seek attacking reinforcements ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
And their chances of landing Gyokeres have been given a significant boost by Deco, who has confirmed Barcelona will not be attempting to sign the prolific striker this summer.
"Gyokeres is a great striker who did excellent things at Sporting but we’re currently not looking for that position," Deco said, per A Bola. "We have [Robert] Lewandowski at number nine."
Arsenal will spend big on a new No.9 this summer after finishing second in the Premier League for a third successive year, though it remains to be seen if they will pursue a deal for Gyokeres or for RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko.
The latter is known to be a long-term target and was linked with the Londoners last summer before opting to pen a new contract with Leizpig.
Manchester United head coach, Ruben Amorim, knows Gyokeres inside out after managing him for the majority of the striker's time at Sporting Lisbon before accepting an offer to move to England in November.
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Gyokeres went on to score 54 goals in 52 games this season as Sporting clinched another Portuguese title and, for their part, the club insist they have received no offers for their star forward.
Sporting's vice-president, Francisco Salgado Zenha, said of Gyokeres: "He has three more years on his contract. At the moment there are no offers, he has three more years on his contract. I think the answer has been given. [Sporting's transfer plans] won't be any different from last year. We want to keep the best players and retain talent.
"We want to continue to be champions, have competitive teams and fight on all fronts. I have been in this role for seven years. In the years when Sporting were champions, we even made fewer sales than in other years... the fact that we are champions gives us a greater ability to retain players and talent.
"Coincidence or not, we have not had to sell any players in those times. Not that we have not received offers, but the market is not under our control, we are always dependent."