Viktor Gyokeres 'messages' to Sporting give Man United clear deadline for transfer decision

Everyone in the Premier League is aware that Manchester United are in desperate need of at least one striker this summer before the new campaign begins.

This season, the strikeforce of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee was always going to be a risk and it proved to be one which backfired. Having failed to reach double figures in the Premier League, combined, the lack of goals in this squad is a huge problem and one which even Ruben Amorim has addressed publicly.

As we enter July on Tuesday, United edge closer to the return of pre-season and all the perils that come with that. The plan would have been, and still is, to sign a striker preferably before the clash with Leeds on July 19 or, at the very least, before the start of the Premier League campaign against Arsenal less than a month later.

In an ideal world, the man Amorim would target for that position is Viktor Gyokeres and, on the surface, the Swede seems like a sensible bet. He wants to leave Sporting Lisbon this summer, has scored bags of goals and has a pre-exisiting relationship with Amorim in this system.

However, the reality makes a move for him a lot more difficult. Over the weekend, United were inadvertently drawn into the saga when Sporting's president Frederico Varandas took a dig at their business to try and justify his price tag for the striker.

"We have been watching the market and I saw [Martin] Zubimendi, who is six months younger than Viktor, leave for €65million (£55.5m)", he explained. "I saw Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, both forwards but who, in my opinion, do not have Viktor's market value or quality, being negotiated for around €75million (£64m).

"Given the demands we consider fair, I believe Viktor could leave – unless he has the worst agent