Gyökeres: Sporting's Swedish scoring sensation

After starring in the Championship for Coventry City last season, Viktor Gyökeres has emerged as one of European football's top attackers after a sensational start to life at Sporting.

The Lisbon-based club paid over £20 million for Gyökeres last summer after the Swedish international starred in the second tier. The striker was named in the Championship Team of the Season for his 2022/23 campaign and scooped up top spot in the prestigious Playmaker 72.

Considering how quickly Gyökeres has adapted to life in Portugal and displayed his talents domestically and in Europe, there will be many clubs wondering why they didn't take a chance on the player – especially for such a relatively modest fee. 

Now any team hoping to secure his services next season will have to pay the €100 million release clause (about £85m). It's a risk worth taking.

Relentless goalscorer

Gyökeres is having by far his best season to date. The 25-year-old has scored 36 goals and assisted 13 times in 39 games, amazing figures and an improvement over last season's impressive numbers with Coventry: 50 games, 22 goals, 12 assists.

Comparing that to the rest of Europe makes those 49 direct goal involvements all the more impressive. Gyökeres now ranks ahead of Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, et al.

⭐️ Most productive in 2023/24 (#Uefa 'Top 7' leagues; all comps):

49⚽️: 💥 GYÖKERES (36G, 13A) 💥
47⚽️: Kane (37G, 10A)
46⚽️: Mbappé (38G, 8A)
45⚽️: De Jong (31G, 14A)
35⚽️: Haaland (29G, 6A)#SportingCP @SportingCP_en pic.twitter.com/okiA7YuIkI

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) March 18, 2024

Those numbers were boosted by another stand-out performance for Sporting, with the Swede scoring three and assisting another in a 6-1 victory over Boavista at home. 

That hat-trick was Gyökeres' first since he was a teenager in the Swedish second division where he scored three during his final game for Brommapojkarna against Gefle (before going on to join Brighton & Hove Albion). Incidentally, it was also his ninth brace of the season as well.

The overall performance against Boavista was also a perfect microcosm of Gyökeres' time at Sporting and his attributes as a player...

Gyökeres' first goal against As Panteras levelled the scoring for his side just before half time when the prolific forward waited until the last second to dart in front of defender Felipe Ferreira to poke home into an empty net – a proper striker's finish.

The second was the kind of goal Gyökeres has scored several times this season and one that seems to cause defenders all kinds of problems. In the 68th minute, the striker received a pass forward from Nuno Santos (incidentally, Gyökeres is top in the league for progressive passes received with 274 – many from passes just like this) and still had plenty to do.

The Sporting man then feinted like he was going to drive to the byline to fool defender Ibrahima Camará before going back on his right foot and firing a powerful low effort past goalkeeper João Gonçalves to make it 3-1. 

It's not surprising to see that Gyökeres is top of the Portuguese league for passes received this season (274 in total, more than the closest challenger, Benfica's Ángel Di María on 244). The striker is always making the types of runs that free him into the channel that allows him to attack defenders.

Incidentally, Gyökeres is second in the league for successful take-ons against defenders with 54 (Estoril's Rafik Guitane is way ahead in this category with 82).

The hat-trick was wrapped up with a cool penalty that Gyökeres powerfully put into the corner sending the goalkeeper the wrong way. Four of Gyökeres' 22 league goals have come from the penalty spot this season, one more than Braga's Simon Banza.

With the hat-trick complete, there was time for an assist as well. With this, we can look at some more of the impressive numbers Gyökeres has amassed this season.

The Swede received the ball from Nuno Santos wide left and carried the ball forward into the penalty area; Gyökeres is top for carries into the penalty area this season as well (72 ahead of Porto's Francisco Conceição, 54).

Instead of cutting inside like he did with his second goal, this time Gyökeres aimed to the byline and pulled the ball back for Nuno Santos, who had continued his run and was able to tap in to make it 5-1.

Indeed, Gyökeres has been a creative outlet this season where he is currently third in the division for shot-creating actions (111 in total, behind the aforementioned Di María, 126, and Guitane, 115).

Strength, Pace, and Power

As well as the impressive numbers, Gyökeres displays have simply been pleasing to the eye. The striker is always positive when he receives the ball and is happy to turn and run directly towards goal, confident of going past any defender in his way.

While always being wary of making direct comparisons, there is something Haaland-esque about how Gyökeres uses his power and pace to get the best of defenders.

Here we have another great example of Gyökeres doing what he does best on the big stage.

⚽ GOLO
Gyokeres 54'
Taça de Portugal (Meias-Finais) | Sporting 2-0 Benfica#TaçadePortugal #SCPSLB https://t.co/ghMI5ktLMT pic.twitter.com/jArZwWzvmp

— VSPORTS (@vsports_pt) February 29, 2024

The striker made it 2-0 in his side's 2-1 Taça de Portugal first-leg semi-final victory over rivals Benfica at the end of February.

Right wing-back Geny Catamo's ball down the channel left Gyökeres to battle with the wily veteran Nicolás Otamendi. Gyökeres easily absorbed Otamendi's nudge in the back to drive inside the area, cut inside, and then finish low past Anatoliy Trubin.

Otamendi isn't the only defender to be the victim of this kind of bullying from a Gyökeres in full flow this season and he almost certainly won't be the last.

Destined for the Big Time

Once Sporting fans got a glimpse of just how good Gyökeres is, they knew that time watching him at the Estádio José Alvalade would be short-lived – the player is destined to move on to one of the top clubs in Europe's biggest leagues.

Arsenal, AC Milan, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United are some of the names that have been associated with Gyökeres. With Sporting unlikely to sell for any less than the release clause it's up to whichever club first coughs up the €100 million and presents a sufficient offer to the prolific goalscorer.

Clubs will know if they don't get in there soon, another team will be happy to take Sporting's all-action star and his signature celebration.

Eat, sleep, score, repeat 🔁@viktor_gyokeres ⚽⚽⚽ pic.twitter.com/NvciILv4OI

— Sporting CP (@SportingCP) March 17, 2024