According to reports, Manchester United have ‘put together a long list of striker targets’ after learning that Viktor Gyokeres does not want to reunite with Ruben Amorim.
Signing a new centre-forward is one of Amorim’s top objectives this summer, despite already recruiting Brazilian international Matheus Cunha from Premier League rivals Wolves.
Cunha has been brought in to play as a ‘wide 10’ behind an out-and-out striker, with one expected to arrive given the struggles of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.
Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo is also high on the club’s list, but the Bees are standing firm over their £60million valuation.
As for their striker search, it’s believed Amorim’s dream signing is Sporting CP goal machine Gyokeres.
But after United’s pathetic 15th-place finish and failure to qualify for Europe, they’ve been unable to convince the Swedish striker to join the project.
Gyokeres instead ‘dreams’ of a move to Premier League rivals Arsenal, who finished second behind champions Liverpool in 2024/25.
That’s a big blow for United — but there are plenty of strikers out there, and they’ve also been linked with the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Hugo Ekitike.
And according to former Red Devils scout Mick Brown, United have now decided to move on from Gyokeres.
There’s a lot going on behind the scenes,” Brown told Football Insider.
“It’s a bit of a jigsaw puzzle in the transfer market at the moment, it needs one thing to fall into place and then other deals will start to follow
At United, now they’ve been made aware Gyokeres doesn’t want to join, they’re looking elsewhere.
“He wants to join Arsenal apparently, whether that happens or not I don’t know.
It’s all played out a bit too publicly with him which never makes it easy to get a deal done.
“Other deals they’ve been working on, Mbeumo for example, have been very public too.
“But they are working hard behind the scenes because Ruben Amorim wants to sign a striker, they have to know what options they’ve got.
“Then, they’ll be able to make a move and hopefully get something over the line.
“They’ve put together a long list of targets but it’s about narrowing that down and figuring out which of those targets you want to bring in.
The money is there to be spent, they just need to find a deal which works for them
United appear to have accepted defeat in the race for Gyokeres, who is expected to cost around £60m, though they could revisit the situation later this summer if Arsenal opt for RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko instead.
Reports suggest the Gunners are yet to bid for either Sesko or Gyokeres, but the pair remain their top two striker targets.
