Ruben Amorim has urged Viktor Gyokeres to stay at Sporting CP for the rest of the season after being linked with a move to Manchester United.
Amorim signed off his final Champions League game as Sporting’s head coach with an impressive 4-1 victory over Manchester City on Tuesday evening.
City took an early lead in the first half through Phil Foden but Gyokeres equalised before the break. The Sweden international then scored twice from the penalty spot to complete his hat-trick, while Maximiliano Araujo also found the net in an impressive second-half display from the Portuguese champions.
Amorim was given a warm send-off from Sporting’s supporters following the win over City as it was their last match at home before the 39-year-old takes up his role with United next Monday.
Gyokeres, meanwhile, has already been tipped to follow Amorim to Old Trafford having scored 66 goals in 67 games since joining Sporting from Coventry City in July 2023.
Speaking after Sporting’s win over City in the Champions League, Amorim was asked directly whether he was interested in bringing Gyokeres to United.
‘I’ve just made peace with the Sporting fans, I’m not even going to make a joke about it,’ Amorim replied.
‘Gyokeres is a Sporting player, which is a great club, he did a lot for it, he was in the second division, he just has to stay and finish the season at Marques.’
Asked the same in a separate interview, Amorim replied: ‘No, no, no. I cannot be funny with that in this moment.
‘It was tough for me to leave, if I start joking about that with Gyokeres, I’ll have problems. This is my city, this is my country, I will respect.
‘Viktor has to stay until the end of the season and then his life is going, maybe, somewhere else.’
Gyokeres was not asked about a possible move to United but said of Amorim: ‘We will miss him a lot, of course.
‘We achieved a lot together and we will miss him and the other members of the staff, but they are leaving and we have to move on and face the next challenge we have.’
Amorim was also keen to downplay the significance of the 4-1 win against City less than a week before he joins United.
‘It’s a bit misleading. I have the same virtues and defects,’ Amorim said.
‘We’re from a championship outside the top five leagues. We can defend a bit lower and take the initiative, it’s going to be different there [in the Premier League] and we’ll have to fight head-on.
‘We don’t take much tactical considerations to another path, but it’s always better to win and people are always more eager to see the coach there.’
Amorim’s final game in charge of Sporting will be their league fixture away to Braga on Sunday.
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