Viktor Gyokeres has set the world alight under Ruben Amorim after proving to be Brighton’s biggest ever mistake… why Man United should throw their millions at Europe’s hottest striker

When Swansea signed a striker on loan in October 2020, it didn’t take long for the excitement among players and fans to turn to doubt and confusion.

Too often, if the ball was played to him, he wouldn’t be able to hold onto it. When given the opportunity to find a teammate, he regularly chose a member of the opposition. The Swans players soon exchanged concerned looks. ‘Who is this man?’ was the general tenor.

‘This man’ was Viktor Gyokeres, one of the most prolific strikers in the world and a possible transfer target for new Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim.

Gyokeres has been excellent for Amorim in just over a season together at Sporting Lisbon and a move to one of Europe’s top five leagues seems inevitable, likely next summer rather than January.

At 26, Gyokeres, who had a long-term relationship with compatriot Amanda Nilden, is a star of the world game.

He has scored 12 goals in nine games in the Primeira Liga this season, two in three in the Champions League and four in four in the Nations League for Sweden, where he has a potentially formidable partnership with Alexander Isak. His overall record for Sporting is 54 in 62 games, plus 19 assists. Gyokeres’ goal celebration, in which he covers half his face with his hands to resemble a mask, has fans copying him everywhere and debating its origins. Gyokeres loves keeping them in the dark.

It’s all a far cry from that temporary move from Brighton to Swansea four years ago. Young players have to sink or swim during their early loan spells and in South Wales Gyokeres certainly didn’t swim.

“He looked out of his depth,” a former teammate told Mail Sport. “You played the ball against him and the ball bounced off him. He would give it away. He just wasn’t looking forward to it.

‘First loans can be a wake-up call. Most players progress through youth and under-21 football thinking that the next step will come naturally. Viktor started in men’s football and realized: ‘I have some work to do here.’

Fortunately, Gyokeres had Chris Badlan by his side. Badlan is now head of recruitment at Aberdeen but held a similar role at Coventry from 2018 to 2022 and knew Gyokeres from his time in the Under-17s at Swedish club IF Brommapojkarna.

Gyokeres moved to Brighton and then moved to German club St Pauli on loan for the 2019/2020 season, where he really started to catch Badlan’s attention.

“They used him on the left wing a lot, but he still scored from that position,” Badlan recalls. “He fit the profile of what we wanted: a powerful, athletic forward who would extend the game.”

Gyokeres scored seven goals in 28 games in Germany, but when he returned to England he was still stuck on the runway. That difficult spell at Swansea yielded just one goal in 12 games and when he joined Coventry in January 2021, initially on loan, Gyokeres’ performances were similarly unremarkable.

A former Sky Blues player admitted: ‘He didn’t get going at first but the club paid £1 million to sign him from Brighton anyway and we asked each other: ‘Why did they do that?’

“But when he came back for pre-season in 2021, it looked like he had been in the gym all summer. Suddenly he was a monster. Everything just followed from there.

“He scored 18 goals that year and it was a bit of a surprise that he didn’t leave at the end of it. That season he helped Coventry to the play-off final.’

Gyokeres belongs to the HCM stable, which represents other top Swedish talents such as Hugo Larsson and Sebastian Nanasi, as well as Barcelona and Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

Even during his early days in Coventry, Gyokeres had a clear idea of ​​where he wanted to go. As interest in him began to grow, the club’s recruitment staff were told that Gyokeres would only consider offers 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 allegedly told them.

“His mentality is extraordinary,” Badlan explains. ‘Even at that stage he had already mapped out his career. He was a bit sloppy as a player then, but he is so strong in his head.

‘The only problem could be that he doesn’t score for a few games. He’s so determined that he can beat himself up a bit, but soon he goes back to basics and gets back on track.

‘I’ve spoken to a lot of Premier League clubs about him. “I felt like he might not be ready to go straight into anyone’s first team as a No. 1 striker, but would reach that level within six months because he’s so mentally strong.”

Honest and with a level of self-confidence that is just the right side of arrogance, Gyokeres is nevertheless described as ‘a good teammate’ by those who played with him in Sky Blue.

“He was never a recluse,” says one. ‘If you organized a drink or a night out, he was always there. But during training you could see how committed he was to improving his game.

“When we played small games, he hated losing. He was quite demanding of the coaches. “If he felt like he wasn’t getting something he needed in a session, he would ask for more finishing drills or to practice different types of finishing.”

Gyokeres scored 44 goals in 116 games for Coventry and some of the clubs soon to move for him could have gotten him for a lot less than they will have to pay today.

So what stopped them? Firstly, the price tag. Coventry owner Doug King had made it clear to all suitors that he would not listen to offers of less than £20 million. Secondly, Gyokeres’ contract only had twelve months left to run. Why pay a lot of money now if the player can agree a free transfer next winter?

Thirdly, Gyokeres had told seniors at the club that his heart was set on Sporting. Everton, Wolves, Brentford and West Ham were all monitoring the situation, but Gyokeres only had eyes for Lisbon. However, his thinking would certainly have changed if one of England’s elite clubs had made a serious move.

Gyokeres and his advisors had worked out that if he moved to a struggling Premier League club he might end the season back in the Championship with a diminished reputation. By moving to Portugal, he put himself at the center of both domestic and European competition.

“Although he is 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 the way he combines speed and aggression.

“He’ll throw his body in, throw his shoulder in. If he is in a race with a defender and it is 50-50 or he is not favorite, he will still make sure he wins.

‘He’s brilliant at trapping a centre-back and then rolling him. Once he gets you in that spot, he will stop you and even if he can’t run away from you, it’s hard to get the ball away from him. When you mark him, give him three feet of space and try not to get too cramped.”

If Gyokeres ends up in the Premier League it will be fascinating. Despite his goalscoring record in Portugal, there is still some skepticism over whether he can perform regularly for an English club at Champions League level. While FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting can compete with any club across the continent, Portugal’s top flight lacks the depth of England’s.

One thing seems certain: when Gyokeres returns to England, we will see that ‘mask party’ again. Gyokeres recently revealed that it was a tribute to Bane, the villain from the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, played by Tom Hardy.

“No one 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 2023-2024 campaign. Premier League superstar or flat-out bully? The truth is about to be revealed.