Man United put on red alert as Barcelona 'plan' to land Viktor Gyokeres transfer outlined

Barcelona have reportedly put a plan in place to secure the signing of Sporting Clube de Portugal striker Viktor Gyokeres amid links to Manchester United.

Gyokeres continues to be linked with a move away from Lisbon, just a year after arriving in the Portuguese capital from Coventry City. The versatile striker has been in top form in Portugal, scoring 67 goals in 69 appearances to date at Sporting.

In addition to Barcelona, Arsenal, City and Paris Saint-Germain are the teams linked with the Swede. Spanish outlet Sport, the La Liga giants see Gyokeres as the 'ideal successor' for Robert Lewandowski, with his future currently in doubt.

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However, their intention regarding the prolific goalscorer Gyokeres is clear. The report claims Barca have a 'strategic plan' that would see them offer a figure close to €70million (£58m) for the 26-year-old's services, but he would remain at Sporting for another season.

Despite having a €100m (£83m) release clause in his contract, it's believed that Sporting would be willing to negotiate for a fee of around €60-70m (£50-58m). While Ruben Amorim has made it clear he would not be bringing any of his former Sporting players to Old Trafford in January, United would potentially be best placed for a move in the summer, thanks to their manager.

The Portuguese manager was the main reason Gyokeres joined Sporting, as his agent Hasan Cetinkaya later confirmed. "Everyone paid more to Viktor, everyone paid a higher commission to the agent. What happened? I brought him to Sporting because of Ruben Amorim, because I know his work and his work with the players. I chose Ruben because he is a coach of another level.

"And, yes, it will be more difficult for Viktor to stay if Ruben Amorim leaves Sporting because Viktor came precisely because of Ruben. The day we met, we told Ruben: 'here's my boy, he came to Sporting because of you.'"

Gyokeres, meanwhile, is not thinking too much about his future. He said: "It's not something I'm thinking about. I want to finish the season at Sporting, I'm enjoying playing there. I'm in no rush to make a change in the future. We'll see when the time comes for that."