Coventry City owner Doug King says he has no intention of selling star striker Viktor Gyokeres this month.
Gyokeres has been the subject of much transfer speculation after another impressive season for the Sky Blues, with our exclusive revealing that Premier League sides including Brentford, Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers were all keeping tabs, while Coventry Live claimed he was also attracting interest from Championship leaders Burnley.
The 24-year-old scored 18 goals last season and his form has continued into this campaign, netting 13 times so far.
Gyokeres will be crucial to any hopes Mark Robins' side have of making the play-offs, with the Sky Blues currently 15th in the table, six points from the top six.
King's takeover of the club was ratified by the EFL last week and he confirmed his desire to keep Gyokeres at the club, hoping to convince the Swede that remaining at Coventry Building Society Arena is the best option for him.
"I made it clear two months ago that I didn’t want to be a selling club. To get to where you want to get to if you keep selling your best players you are probably going to fail. You may balance the books again and then you go again," King told the Coventry Telegraph.
"Listen, if a player wants to leave and doesn’t want to be at our club, and if that’s his psychology, what can you do? For me, I want to make them be at our club, I want them to see where we want to go and for them to get where they need to go in their careers with us. That’s the goal.
"Obviously it’s early and I can’t really prove much at this point, but they will get a feeling over the next six months what we are doing, how it feels, how things are changing. Does it look like we’re walking the walk and not just talking the chat. So that’s the goal but for me, Vik is a pivotal player for our team.
"He’s a top striker in the Championship and I don’t want him going anywhere.
"If a player is adamant that they don’t want to be with us anymore because they are not seeing what they want to see then obviously that’s a more difficult discussion. I hope that the top players at our club see what we’re trying to do, understand it and see the differences that occurring and get on with the journey.
"It’s always better to be at the start of a journey and achieve it rather than flip somewhere else and be shot in and say, who cares. Doing and achieving in life is really critical, so I hope that will be the case."
The verdict
This will be a huge boost for Coventry.
Retaining Gyokeres' services is the best bit of business the Sky Blues can do this month and there may have been fears that the club would sanction his departure, particularly if a significant bid came in.
But King's comments suggest that keeping hold of him will be the priority above any financial considerations and his ambition not to be a selling club is commendable, though that stance may change if an offer that meets or exceeds their valuation is received.
Gyokeres has become one of the most dangerous marksmen in the Championship and Robins will be desperately hoping he can still call upon his talisman after the window closes.