‘Planning to stay’… Fabrizio Romano says £87m player doesn’t want to leave his club despite Chelsea interest

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Chelsea may find it difficult to convince Viktor Gyokeres to leave Sporting Lisbon in January.

Viktor Gyokeres does have a release clause that Chelsea and other clubs can trigger.

However, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, who was speaking on Kick, the striker is planning on staying at Sporting in January.

It would come as a huge boost to Ruben Amorim, with Gyokeres being his best player this season.

The 25-year-old is Sporting’s top scorer after netting 17 times in 20 outings.

Viktor Gyokeres wants January stay despite Chelsea interest

While Chelsea have been tracking Gyokeres, Romano says he is not thinking about a January exit.

On the Sweden international, he said: “Sporting invested €24m and now they have one of the best strikers around Europe because Viktor Gyokeres is doing fantastic. He’s scoring goals, providing assists. A lot of interest in Viktor Gyokeres, yes, but not in January. From what I’m told, the player is planning to stay in Sporting in January.

“The only way to sign Gyokeres in the January transfer window is to take a plane, go to Lisbon and pay his €100m (£86.6m) release clause. I think it is going to be difficult to pay that amount of money. Gyokeres is going to be one to watch in the summer. Chelsea have sent their scouts multiple times to follow this boy, Arsenal also.”

Can Chelsea convince Viktor Gyokeres to join them in January?

It does not seem impossible. Even amid their struggles, Chelsea have lured some big players to the club in the last few transfer windows, namely Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.

However, it just looks like Gyokeres will decide to stay at Sporting for the rest of the season, which makes sense.

The former Coventry City man has not been there for long and is in good form right now. It may be wise not to rush into any decisions yet.

Chelsea, then, may have to look elsewhere. That being said, a lot can happen between now and the end of the January transfer window, so do not rule anything out.

However, it would be a bit of a surprise if Gyokeres did end up at Stamford Bridge in January, having only joined Sporting in the summer.