‘He will join Chelsea in January’ – Club manager told Chelsea to pay £86m to sign world class attacker in January
Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim has now made it very clear what Chelsea will need to do if they want to sign one of his players when the January transfer window opens.
He told Fabrizio Romano that the Blues will need to meet the release clause in Viktor Gyokeres’ contract for him to move, with the journalist stating it was set at £86m.
Chelsea are reportedly considering a move for Gyokeres as they look to solve their long-standing issue up top.
The statistics do not read too badly for Nicolas Jackson this season, especially when comparing to the strikers of a number of other big sides in England.
However, this has not seen him avoid criticism, and leave many wondering exactly where they would be if someone else was up top instead.
Throughout most of the season and previous transfer window, they were linked with the signings of Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen to potentially take the reins up top.
Chelsea told £86m for Gyokeres
While reports have still linked the Blues to both players, more names are beginning to emerge on their shortlist to strengthen up top.
Gyokeres has recently been added to the list of players being reported, with him enjoying a great spell for Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon in his first season there.
He has been described previously in his career as ‘unplayable’ by former teammate Maxime Biamou.
Despite the links to Chelsea, Amorim has been clear of the only conditions that will see the striker leave his club.
He said: “He will only leave if someone pays the buyout clause in January — otherwise he will stay”.
The young manager was one of the names who was also on the shortlist for the Blues when they were looking at hiring a new boss over the summer, before settling on Mauricio Pochettino.