Viktor Gyokeres, a top player for Sporting Lisbon, seems to have ruled out moving to Chelsea in January.
Gyokeres, 25, left Coventry City for the Portuguese powerhouses in the summer after leading the Sky Blues to victory in the Championship with 21 goals.
With just 25 games this season, the Sweden international has already scored 22 goals and provided 10 assists, continuing his incredible play.
Chelsea is eager to increase the number of goals in their lineup this month. According to rumours from Portugal this week, the Premier League team has made an offer of £73 million for the attacker, with performance-related bonuses making up a portion of the sum.
Sporting, whose release clause is around £86 million, allegedly turned down that offer.
When asked about Chelsea’s interest, Gyokeres stated he is not considering his next transfer and is only focused on Sporting.
“I don’t give it much thought,” he said to Sport TV. “I’m here, and I’m focused on the important games we have to play.”
There is a lot of discussion on social media and in other places, but I’m not paying attention to it; I’m not thinking about it. I am present here at this moment. I’m giving the club and this my all attention.
Speaking about Chelsea’s offer, Sporting director Ruben Amorim stated that it was insufficient to persuade the team to make a deal.
This week, Amorim stated, “I don’t know, I didn’t even ask [director of football Hugo] Viana.”
Obviously, I was made aware of the information. “That’s not enough,” was my first thought upon hearing that it was €85 million. It is merely £86 million, or €100 million. I’m not concerned.
In January of last year, Chelsea signed Enzo Fernandez from Sporting through a trade with their bitter rivals Benfica.
The Blues had to turn down several offers before agreeing to pay his £106 million release clause.