“It's a complicated match that awaits Lille for their entry into the Champions League”warns Gary De Jesus.
Correspondent for the Stats Perform platform and DAZN Portugalthis journalist specializing in Portuguese football confirms that, this Tuesday, September 17, Bruno Genesio's men will experience a perilous trip to Lisbon to face Sporting Portugal, the reigning Portuguese champion (at 9 p.m.). “They are an attack-minded team with the X-factor at centre forward.”
“He's blowing everything up with Sporting”
This famous “X factor” is one of the most formidable centre-forwards currently on the European scene: Viktor Gyökeres, author of 43 goals, 15 assists in 49 matches last season (all competitions combined) and already 8 goals to his name in five league matches since the start of the season…
“He really surprised everyone last yearconfirms Gary de Jesus. He's blowing everything up with Sporting. He scores an incredible number of goals. He hits the target with his eyes closed. He's always looking towards the goal, forward. He's not a player with incredible technical finesse, but he's a bulldozer.”
Sweden refers to him as the “heir” to legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic, “the best of all time”as he describes himself, who has scored 62 goals in 122 international matches.
This successor, born in Stockholm, is already 26 years old. He is the new Scandinavian terror after Manchester City's “cyborg”, Erling Haaland.
“All things considered”his profile is a bit like that of the Norwegian, estimates Gary de Jesus: he too is a powerful number 9 (1.87 m for 86 kg) capable of weighing on opposing defenses with formidable efficiency and an ability to score with his head and both feet. “As soon as he has a little room to maneuver, he hits hard. He is powerful, tireless in pressing forward. You must not give him half a chance.”
Arriving at Sporting Portugal in July 2023 from Coventry City (Championship) for 21 million euros, the Swede becomes the most expensive transfer in the history of the Lisbon club, which has always had a flair for finding rare gems. It was there that Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut in 2002 before catching the eye of Manchester United… “The difference is that Cristiano came out of the club's excellent training center. The Swede, on the other hand, was more of a gamble.”
“The number one danger for Lille”
A month after signing, Viktor Gyökeres already scored twice in his first official match in his new colours. Since then, he has been scoring like pearls in the green and white jersey: 29 goals and 10 assists in 33 league matches, greatly contributing to his team's Portuguese championship title last year.
In the space of a year, he has become the darling of the fans of “Greens and Whites” who proudly wear jerseys bearing his name in the stands or display Swedish flags to show him their love. “This is indeed the number one danger for Lille.”
Inevitably, with such staggering statistics, the Swede has become one of the most watched players in the world of football. It's simple, his name was mentioned almost everywhere in the five major European championships during the summer transfer window. His release clause was set at 100 million euros.
PSG keeps an eye on him
“I love being at Sporting. We'll see what happens, I can't promise anything at the moment”he said last May, after the Portuguese championship title. “I am very happy here at Sporting, I am under contract, but in football things always move quickly, you have to adapt.”
Courted by PSG to compensate for the departure of Kylian Mbappé and then the unavailability of the Portuguese Gonçalo Ramos, the Swede ultimately did not move from the Portuguese capital.
The Parisian club would not despair of bringing him in next summer. “But the biggest European clubs are waiting for Gyökeres' season of confirmation to see if he really has what it takes to play at a higher level, to move up a level.says Gary de Jesus. At the moment, at 26, he has only had one season at this level of efficiency.”
In the meantime, during the international break, he scored twice for the national team against Estonia (3-0) in the Nations League and a goal against Azerbaijan. He scored his eighth goal in the championship on Friday, September 13, in Arunca (0-3). And as with any self-respecting great goal scorer, even his celebration in “Hannibal Lecter the cannibal” mode, covering his starving mouth with his hands, has become his trademark. The Lille Dogues hope to muzzle him.
