Ruben Amorim refused to joke about signing Viktor Gyokeres for Manchester United.
Gyokeres eviscerated Man City, scoring a hat-trick as Amorim’s Sporting Lisbon thrashed Pep Guardiola’s side 4-1.
It has, understandably, got United fans excited about Amorim’s impending arrival at Old Trafford next week.
However, Gyokeres will not be coming with him just yet.
The former Brighton and Coventry striker has a frightening record for Sporting. This season alone he has 23 goals in just 17 games.
The 26-year-old also has an £84million release clause and has been linked with a move to a major European club.
Amorim was asked about whether Gyokeres will be joining him in Manchester.
He told TNT Sports: “No, no, no, no. I cannot be funny with that in this moment. It is stuff for me to leave if I’m joking about Gyokeres, I will have problems.
“This is my city, this is my country, so I will respect. Viktor has to stay until the end of the season and then it’s his life is, maybe, going to someone else.”
Meanwhile, hat-trick hero Gyokeres addressed his manager’s imminent departure after the game.
He told UEFA: “We will miss him a lot.
“We’ve done amazing things together. We will miss him and the other guys in the staff who will leave. We have to look forward and attack the next challenge ahead of us.”
Reflecting on the match as a whole, the striker added: “It’s always nice to score and even better to score a hat-trick. Most important was to win the game so it was a brilliant night for us.
“We knew it was going to be tough and we didn’t start off well. We knew they would give us space and we could have scored more than four to be fair. They could have scored more as well. You need to raise your level when you play better opponents. I tried to keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
That will be Amorim’s final home game in charge of Sporting, with the club travelling to Braga on the weekend.
He will officially start work at Manchester United on November 11, with his first match after the international break.
Amorim, who took a long lap of honour after the game, said: “Those who were here and have seen Sporting over the last four years deserved a night like this. It was very special.
“But we shouldn’t stop here, it shouldn’t be a one-off. It was special in the circumstances but we have to think about the next match against Braga.
“Perhaps it was written in the stars we should end this way. I will keep these memories forever but I cannot enjoy them fully yet.”
