Every major European club has their eyes on the likes of Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney ahead of this summer, but Viktor Gyokores is the name that should be on everyone’s radar.
The 25-year-old Sporting Lisbon striker has, at time of writing, more league goals [22] than Kylian Mbappe [21], Erling Haaland [18] and Mohamed Salah [15] this season. Only Harry Kane [31] and Lautaro Martinez [23] have more.
How did this Swedish striker go from the play-off final with Coventry last year, to ripping up European football in Portugal in 2024? Here’s five things you need to know about Viktor Gyokeres:
His viral celebration
Embed from Getty ImagesWhen you have the whole crowd doing your celebration on command, you know you’ve made it to hero status. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Marcus Rashford all have transcended football with their celebrations crossing from sport into popular culture. If you’re a forward and you have fans adoring you to that length, it shows you’re a striker on form.
Whilst Gyokeres is goal-scoring machine for Sporting, fans will only love him even more and his celebration will grow in popularity, as will his reputation on the continent.
Replaced Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Embed from Getty ImagesWhilst Gyokeres was featuring in the U21 set-up, Sweden were hit by the ‘resignation’ of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from the national team in 2022. The Swedish icon would later announce his international retirement in 2023, at the time Sweden needed a new marksman they turned to Gyokeres.
Off the back of an 18-goal season with Coventry in 21/22, he made the step-up to senior level and has been there ever since, his most notable moment being an equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Belgium in 2023.
More than just goals
Embed from Getty ImagesThe main thing teams need from strikers today is just being good at everything. Hold-up play, good with both feet, quick, creative and can score goals, well Gyokeres seems to be able to tick a lot of those boxes.
He has 14 assists in 39 games in all competitions this season, with a stand-out performance coming in their 5-1 win over Estoril in January where he assisted four goals. On six occasions this season he has scored and assisted in the same game, as all-round strikers go Gyokeres looks the full package.
On Brighton’s books
Embed from Getty ImagesThe man who now has a reported £85 million release clause was once upon a time signed by Brighton, as a young prospect from Swedish football. Signing in 2018, he had three loan spells over the course of three years at the Seagulls and never featured in the league for the club.
After a successful loan period at Coventry City, he made a permanent switch to the club in 2021 and began his rise up to becoming the Swedish striker sensation he is today.
Premier League interest
Almost all of the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ have eyes on the Swede, including Chelsea who reportedly had a £73 million bid turned down for him in January 2024.
Sporting manager Ruben Amorim said: “I’m sure there could be offers in the summer. Right now, I don’t know. We’ll have to sell but right now only for the clause.” Arsenal and Tottenham have been linked with him and Lisbon seem prepared to sell, but the £85 million price tag needs to be met.
