Chelsea have already made £13m mistake which could deny Enzo Maresca his dream signing

Enzo Maresca could be denied his dream Chelsea signing because of a mistake which could haunt them further down the line. The Blues rarely fail to land players they want but it looks like they might be forced to yield in their pursuit of Viktor Gyokeres.

The 26-year-old has emerged as one of Europe’s most feared marksmen and is thought to be attracting Premier League interest. Sporting have reportedly slashed his asking price to around £63million, which the Blues would usually have no qualms about paying.

However, the news of Ruben Amorim’s impending move to United suggests the Red Devils will be in the driving seat. It would make sense for Gyokeres to reunite with the manager who transformed him into one of the world’s most prolific strikers.

Things could have been very different if Chelsea had managed to sign Gyokeres when they explored a move last January. However, a deal failed to materialise as a result of a stubborn call made by the club’s hierarchy.

According to Record, the Blues lodged an offer in the region of £70m which was turned down. Sporting reportedly informed Chelsea that Gyokeres would only be sold for the full value of his £83m release clause and nothing less.

It meant Chelsea only needed to stump up another £13m to bring Gyokeres to Stamford Bridge, but they refused and negotiations broke down. Their reluctance to pay the full price could end up being a mistake on their part, especially if he moves to United.

The Red Devils have emerged as the favourites to land Gyokeres with Amorim officially starting his role at the club next week. Only time will tell if the striker decides to follow his current boss to Old Trafford when the bidding opens next year.

Gyokeres is currently in the form of his life, having already scored 23 goals for Sporting in all competitions this season. He bagged a brilliant hat-trick against Manchester City on Tuesday as the Premier League champions slipped to a chastening 4-1 defeat.

The former Coventry and Brighton man spoke about his future during the summer window, suggesting he was being priced out of a move elsewhere due to the value of his release clause.

“They wanted most of the starting players to stay and held us tight,” he told Sport Bladet. “That’s how it turned out, but I enjoy Sporting very much so for me it was no problem to stay.

“It [the release clause] was probably a bit too much because nothing came of it. Of course, it’s a lot of money, but we’ll see what happens next window.”