When Swansea signed a forward on loan in October 2020, it did not take long for excitement among players and fans to turn to doubt and confusion.
If the ball was played to him, too often he would fail to retain it. Given the chance to find a team-mate, he would regularly pick out a member of the opposition instead. Swans players were soon exchanging concerned glances. ‘Who is this guy?’ was the general gist.
‘This guy’ was Viktor Gyokeres, one of the most prolific forwards in the world and a possible transfer target for new Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim.
Gyokeres has been outstanding for Amorim in a little more than a season together at Sporting Lisbon and a move to one of Europe’s top-five leagues seems inevitable, probably next summer rather than in January.
At 26, Gyokeres, who was in a long-term relationship with fellow Sweden international Amanda Nilden, is a star of the global game.
Viktor Gyokeres has become one of the most prolific forwards in world football
The Sporting forward has been outstanding in little more than a season under Ruben Amorim
Incoming Man United boss Amorim may look to Gyokeres as a potential transfer target
He has 12 goals in nine Primeira Liga games this term, two in three in the Champions League and four in four in the Nations League for Sweden, where he has a potentially fearsome partnership with Alexander Isak. His overall record for Sporting is 54 in 62 matches, plus 19 assists. Gyokeres’ goal celebration, where he covers half of his face with his hands to resemble a mask, has had fans everywhere copying him and debating its origin. Gyokeres has delighted in keeping them guessing.
It is all a far cry from that temporary move to Swansea from Brighton four years ago. Young players need to sink or swim during their early loan periods and in south Wales, Gyokeres most certainly did not swim.
‘He looked out of his depth,’ one former team-mate told Mail Sport. ‘You’d play the ball into him and it would bounce off him. He’d give it away. He just didn’t look up to it.
‘First loans can be a wake-up call. Most players breeze through youth and Under-21 football and they think the next step will happen as a matter of course. Viktor got into men’s football and realised ‘I’ve got some work to do here.’
Luckily, Gyokeres had Chris Badlan on his side. Badlan is now head of recruitment at Aberdeen but held a similar role at Coventry from 2018-2022 and had been aware of Gyokeres from his time in the Under-17 side at Swedish club IF Brommapojkarna.
Gyokeres moved to Brighton and then switched to German club St Pauli on loan for the 2019-20 campaign, where he really started to catch the eye of Badlan.
‘They often used him on the left wing but he would still score from that position,’ Badlan recalls. ‘He fit the profile of what we wanted – a powerful, athletic forward who would stretch the play.’
Gyokeres scored seven in 28 games in Germany yet when he returned to England, he still found himself stuck on the runway. That tricky spell at Swansea brought just one goal in 12 and when he joined Coventry, initially on loan, in January 2021, Gyokeres’ performances were similarly unremarkable.
A former Sky Blues player admitted: ‘He didn’t get going at first but the club still paid £1m to sign him from Brighton and we were asking each other ‘Why have they done that?’
Gyokeres scored four goals on Friday night to take his tally for Sporting to 54 in 62 matches
Gyokeres struggled to make a breakthrough at Brighton but went on to thrive at Coventry
Gyokeres scored 44 goals in 116 games for Coventry and was tracked by Premier League clubs
‘But when he came back for pre-season in 2021, it looked like he had been in the gym all summer. All of a sudden he was a monster. Everything just followed from there.
‘He scored 18 that year and it was a bit of a surprise he didn’t leave at the end of it. The season, he helped get Coventry to the play-off final.’
Gyokeres belongs to the HCM stable, who represent other top Swedish talents like Hugo Larsson and Sebastian Nanasi, as well as Barcelona and Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
Even during his early days at Coventry, Gyokeres had a clear idea of where he was heading. When interest in him started to grow, recruitment staff at the club were told that Gyokeres would consider offers only from established Premier League clubs or high-level teams in Italy, Spain, Germany, France or Portugal. ‘If anyone else calls, I’m not interested,’ Gyokeres is believed to have informed them.
‘His mentality is off the charts,’ explains Badlan. ‘Even at that stage, he had his career mapped out. He was a bit untidy as a player back then but he is so strong in his mind.
‘The only issue might be if he goes a few games without scoring. He is so determined that he can end up beating himself up a bit but soon enough, he’ll go back to basics and get back on track.
‘I spoke to lots of Premier League clubs about him. My feeling was that while he might not be ready to go straight into someone’s first team as a No1 centre-forward, he’d reach that level within six months, because he is so strong mentally.’
Straight talking and with a level of confidence that falls on just the right side of arrogance, Gyokeres is nonetheless described as ‘a good team-mate’ by those who played with him in Sky Blue.
The Sweden international had his heart set on a move to join Sporting Lisbon
The put him in the Champions League spotlight, rather than playing for a struggling club
‘He was never a recluse,’ says one. ‘If you organised a social or a night out, he’d always be there. But in training, you’d see how committed he was to improving his game.
‘When we played small-sided games, he hated losing. He was quite demanding of the coaches. If he felt he hadn’t got something he needed from a session, he would ask for more finishing practice or to practise different types of finishes.’
Gyokeres scored 44 goals in 116 games for Coventry and some of those clubs who may move for him soon could have had him for far less than they will need to pay today.
So what put them off? First, the price tag. Coventry owner Doug King had made it clear to all suitors that he would not listen to offers of less than £20m. Second, Gyokeres’ contract had only 12 months to run. Why pay big money now if the player can agree a free transfer the following winter?
Third, Gyokeres had told senior figures at the club that his heart was set on Sporting. Everton, Wolves, Brentford and West Ham were all monitoring the situation but Gyokeres had eyes only for Lisbon. His thinking would surely have changed, though, had one of England’s elite clubs made a serious move.
Gyokeres and his advisors had figured out that if he moved to a struggling Premier League club, he may end the season back in the Championship with his reputation diminished. By moving to Portugal, he was placing himself centre stage in both domestic and European competition.
‘Though he’s quick, he doesn’t stand out for his speed in the way a player like Kylian Mbappe does,’ says another former Coventry colleague. ‘What sets him apart is how he combines pace with aggression.
‘He’ll throw his body in, throw his shoulder in. If he’s in a race with a defender and it’s 50-50 or he’s not favourite, he’ll still make sure he wins it.
Gyokeres has continued to go from strength to strength under the coaching of Amorim
There remains scepticism about if he can deliver for a Champions League-level English club
Gyokeres revealed his goal celebration is a nod to Bane, the villain in The Dark Knight Rises
‘He is brilliant at pinning a centre-back and then rolling him. Once he has got you in that spot he will hold you off and even if he can’t run away from you, it’s hard to get the ball off him. If you’re marking him, give him a yard of space and try not to get too tight.’
If Gyokeres lands in the Premier League, it will be fascinating. Despite his scoring record in Portugal, there is still some scepticism about whether he can deliver regularly for a Champions League-level English club. Though FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting can compete with any club across the continent, the Portuguese top flight lacks the depth of England’s.
One thing appears certain: should Gyokeres return to England, we will see that ‘mask’ celebration again. Gyokeres revealed recently that it was a tribute to Bane, the villain in 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, played by Tom Hardy.
‘Nobody cared who I was until I put on the mask,’ is one of Bane’s signature lines. Gyokeres used the quote in a recent Instagram post, alongside a video of his goals from the 2023-24 campaign. Premier League superstar or flat-track bully? The truth is about to be revealed.
