He is the player of the moment in Liga Portugal. Viktor Gyökeres is simply unplayable at the start of the season. If you ask the Lille players, who have just played against the Swedish striker, they will be unanimous: he is Sporting’s number 1 danger. A look back at the atypical career of a scorer like no other.
If Norway has Erling HaalandSweden has Viktor Gyökeres. The Portuguese defenses will not say otherwise since his arrival at Sporting. The 1.87 m striker has scored 54 goals and provided 18 assists in 58 games. Statistics worthy of the Manchester City goal scorer. Many saw him leave this summer, but he stayed with the reigning champion, due to a release clause of 100 million euros. And his start to the season is just as impressive: 11 goals and 3 assists in just 8 games, including 1 in the Champions League. The Swedish giant is also on a streak of 9 consecutive games in which he has scored.
An atypical career and a fairly late explosion
But the Stockholm native has not always been the serial goalscorer that we know. Recruited in the summer of 2023 from Coventry, in the English second division, for 24 million euros, the 26-year-old center forward was trained at IF Brommapojkarna, in the suburbs of Stockholm. He made his professional debut in 2015 at the age of 17, but it was not until the 2016-2017 season that he exploded at the highest level. He scored 13 goals and provided 8 assists in 29 league games, participating in the Swedish D2 championship title.
For 1 million euros, Brighton lured him to England. For 4 seasons, Gyökeres went on loan without really making a name for himself. It was only in 2021 that his career took off. With 19 goals and 5 assists, Coventry offered 1.2 million euros to Brighton to let their number 9 go. In the Coventry jersey, the Swedish international will have scored 43 goals and provided 17 assists in just two seasons. With his current form, the number 9 of Hungarian origin could well enter the history of Sporting Portugal. But with his not very flashy career, the Scandinavian colossus has not yet made a name for himself in Europe, even if he already has 22 caps with Sweden for 10 goals.
Powerful, punchy and efficient: Viktor Gyökeres’ playing style
Alone at the forefront in the 3-4-3 system put in place by his coach Ruben Amorim, Viktor Gyökeres is a very complete profile, especially in finishing. Just by his size (1.87 m for 90 kg), the former Coventry player weighs enormously on a defense. His exceptional back-to-goal game allows him to be an effective support point for his teammates. His sense of timing and his heading game make him a real threat in the aerial game.
Despite his build, the Sporting striker is extremely fast. In addition, he is skilled with both feet, with a preference for the right, with which he unleashes super-powerful strikes. To make matters worse for his future opponents, the top scorer in Liga Portugal is also a penalty kick ace. Of his 24 attempts, 19 have ended up in the net. With Sporting, he has a record of 12 goals in 13 penalty attempts.
A look back at his performance in his first Champions League match against LOSC:
If we must retain a quality of Viktor Gyökeresit’s his game with his back to goal. Here, he rises above by Alexsandro with a relaxation that would almost overshadow Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former Coventry player is not just a goalscorer. He has a good foot to send great balls to his team-mates. On this action, he launches a magnificent ball to put Pedro Goncalves in a 1 on 1 situation.
If there is one action that sums up the superb performance of the Sporting player, it is the goal action. On a ball misjudged by the Lille defense, the Swede uses his body to allow a teammate to recover the ball.
Afterwards, Gyökeres finds himself in the area facing four Lillois. Thanks to a superb oriented control, the attacker frees himself from the space, then concludes the action with a shot into the side netting, on which Lucas Knight can’t do anything. The Stockholm native can only celebrate his feat, with his already cult celebration.
As if that wasn’t enough for LOSC, Sporting’s number 9 made a huge effort on the engagement, recovered a lost ball, then performed a roulette which trapped the poor guy Angel Gomesforced to commit a foul. Result: a second yellow card which sends the former Boavista player back to the locker room.
For his first match in the Champions League, the terror of the Portuguese defenses could have scored a double. On this action, launched in depth, the 26-year-old attacker outpaces the northern defense and outplays Bafode Diakite with a nice hook. Unfortunately for him, Gyökeres fails to find the back of the net during his 1 on 1.
With this XXL performance, the player, under contract until June 2028 in the Portuguese capital, has definitely made a name for himself in Europe. If Viktor Gyökeres maintains this level all season, there are likely to be many suitors this summer trying to land the Swedish goal scorer.
Photo by Linnea Rheborg/Getty Images.
