New Delhi: Since the start of his career, Viktor Gyokeres has been disproving others. Any remaining skeptics have undoubtedly been hushed by the Sporting striker’s hat-trick in a 4-1 Champions League thumping of Manchester City. Since relocating to Lisbon in 2023, the Sweden international has scored 66 goals in 67 games, including 23 in just 17 this season. After Tuesday’s victory, he told UEFA that scoring is always good, but scoring a hat-trick is much better. When you play better opponents, you have to step up your game. I made an effort to continue my current course of action.
After Sporting manager Ruben Amorim’s transfer to Old Trafford was confirmed last week, there have been numerous rumors of a move to the Premier League, with Manchester United being most frequently mentioned. “His current manager is among the clubs that will believe that this man can mix it with the greatest.
The top clubs will eventually sign him, former England winger Andros Townsend stated. However, Gyokeres, 26, hasn’t always attracted this kind of attention. Admirers didn’t start circling him until he spent two years at Coventry City, where he helped them to the Championship play-off final, which ended up being his final game.
A natural goalscorer
Are you not entertained? 😏 pic.twitter.com/bvqgHOH9ZB
— Sporting CP (@SportingCP) November 5, 2024
Gyokeres started his career in Sweden with IF Brommapojkarna, but he left in 2017 to play for Brighton. He played for Swansea City, St. Pauli in Germany, and Coventry on loan before making just four appearances for the Seagulls. Even while his brilliance was obvious, not everyone was persuaded. According to Brommapojkarna academy scout David Eklund, “when I took him to Bromma, he was 14 and the head of the academy said he wasn’t good enough.”
Eklund further assured Gyokeres that he will score a lot of goals. He was always a good striker when Eklund first met him, at the age of eleven. He was a fantastic finisher, a shooter, and a physical specimen who had the strength and ability to head the ball well. He grew stronger and more muscular during his adolescence, but he also became slower and stockier. Unlike Dejan Kulusevski, another Brommapojkarna young product, he was never a superstar. He did, however, score goals. That’s all.
Gyokeres made his Brommapojkarna first team debut as a youngster, and he quickly established himself as a vital element of the squad, tallying 20 goals in 56 games.
Eklund also said that the club back then was struggling in the second division, and the coach from the first team approached him. The coach aske him if he has a striker who can compete in that level. That was the time when Eklund suggested that he has Viktor (Gyokeres). He further added that the 16 year old works hard and is an excellent player, powerful enough to compete with more experienced competitors.
He further added- “No one at Bromma had him on their mind. After some time, perhaps two or three months, he began to calm down. “Wow,” the coach replied when he called me back.
Gyokeres’ journey to the top
Many may not know this but in 2021, Brighton sold Viktor Gyokeres to Coventry City for a massive £1M fee. What will he cost now? pic.twitter.com/0x2nQni7vk
— Moby (@Mobyhaque1) November 5, 2024
A turning point was Gyokeres’ permanent transfer from Brighton to Coventry in 2021, when he scored 39 goals. He established himself as the Sky Blues’ key man and grew close to manager Mark Robins, who once again saw through his initial mistrust. Gyokeres joined Sporting after being linked to Premier League clubs. Hugo Viana, a director headed to Manchester City, seized the chance to recruit him, and the Swede’s stature has since skyrocketed.
Even the originators of Gyokeres have been taken aback by its recent development. Eklund acknowledges that he never thought the striker would make it to the top but always believed he would succeed. Last season the Swedish striker scored an astonishing 43 goals in all competitions for Sporting Lisbon, establishing himself as one of the top strikers in Europe. This season, it is no different for the goal machine, in fact, his current rate of scoring is much more higher than last season with 23 goals in 17 appearances, in all competitions.
Viktor Gyökeres, Pep Guardiola’nın Manchester City’sine karşı hat-trick yapan 3. oyuncu oldu.
🔸 Messi
🔸 Nkunku
🔸 Gyökeres pic.twitter.com/yYIOGVGLKb
— De Marke Sports (@demarkesports) November 6, 2024
His recent victims? Well, one of the European giants, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were slayed by the Swedish goal scoring machine as last night in the fourth matchday of UEFA Champions League, Gyokeres led his Sporting side to an impressive 4-1 win, scoring a tremendous hattrick against the English champions. This makes him the third ever player to score a hattrick against Pep Guardiola’s Man City. It is truly incredible how this player has grown over the past two seasons, and with a numerous top European clubs looking to get his signature, it will be interesting to see where he lands next season.
Viktor Gyokeres really went from a Brighton reject to scoring an astonishing hattrick for Sporting against Pep Guardiola’s Man City. Let’s have a look at the Swedish goal machine’s rise to the top Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
