Coventry City will be rubbing their hands seeing Viktor Gyokeres’ sparkling form at Sporting Lisbon.
The 26-year-old Swedish striker is in the prime of his career playing in Liga NOS, having just won the Portugese title in a season that will go down in legend for the club. In 33 matches in the league, Gyokeres scored 29 goals and tallied 10 assists in one of the most complete striking performances across a season that the league has ever seen.
The Swede had humble beginnings, however, fighting against lack of playing time and periods under managers where he was out of favour. There are definite financial winners and losers in the upturn of his career.
Seagulls make a very rare player mistake
Brighton & Hove Albion is well-known for their outstanding football skills as well as their business judgment when it comes to the acquisition and trade of players, which many view as a ruthless abuse of “elite” teams prepared to shell out tens of millions of pounds for unskilled prodigies. I’m glancing at Moises Caicedo.
Gyokeres started in the U-17s in 2013 and gained strength as he progressed through the ranks at IF Brommapojkarna. He would rise fast to the top team and win the Superettan (second division) championship with the Swedish team. Midway through that season, he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Brighton after their skill was recognized.
Normally, Brighton is something of a world-class talent factory, but the Swede was obviously let down by it. Gyokeres had three loan stints at the team: one each at St. Pauli and Swansea City, and his final, career-defining one with Coventry City.
Brighton made the glaringly obvious mistake of selling Gyokeres to Coventry City in 2021 for approximately £1 million, despite their blatantly brilliant money-printing. This is only in retrospect, though, as Brighton only let the player go for the Sky Blues following a lackluster loan period. He only managed three goals during that first loan season, which made a permanent move appear reasonable for Brighton’s high-flying squad and completely out of the ordinary for Coventry City.
For years to come, City will reap the benefits of what he would go on to do. In three seasons under manager Mark Robins, he amassed 43 goals and 17 assists in 116 appearances, which earned him a high-profile transfer to Sporting Lisbon last summer.
Since Coventry City nearly missed the play-offs this season, their investments from the Gyokeres windfall have brought them one step closer to a promotion drive. In fact, we are already seeing some of the financial benefits at Coventry City.
A cult figure for the Leões
Coventry City sold their star man to Sporting Lisbon last summer for an undisclosed fee, which is rumoured to be in excess of £20 million. What makes the deal even better for the Sky Blues is the 15% sell-on clause included in the deal, as reported by Coventry Live.
After the title-winning 23/24 season that Gyokeres has had, they will surely be licking their lips. After just one season in Portugal, the player is already linked with a move to elite European clubs such as Arsenal.
He has become a hero for his new club, helping them finish ten points ahead of second-place Benfica. The side also scored 96 goals in the league campaign, 19 more than second and 33 more than third-place Porto. Gyokeres is at the centre of Sporting’s goalscoring revolution.
Whilst Brighton may rue the loss of such a talent that they surely would’ve been able to sell to Chelsea, Arsenal or Spurs for £100 million plus, it is very possible that Gyokeres has been a product of fortunate circumstances this season.
The striker has been working with two blazing wingers, Pedro Goncalves and former Barça and Wolves player Trincao. The former is massively underappreciated by the usual cash-rich poachers of the top-flight leagues, having been a monumental player for four seasons straight. In this campaign, the 25-year-old was the perfect supporting player to Gyokeres and others, providing 16 assists and netting an impressive 18 times. The latter has revived his career since moving back to his homeland, where he previously played for Braga, after very poor tenures in La Liga and the Premier League. This season, he totted up nine assists and scored ten times.
Attacking has been like poetry for Sporting this season, but who is the poet? A fair share of Gyokeres’ success can be put down to the faith in him by up-and-coming manager Ruben Amorim. The former Braga manager has given the Swede the time and tactical setup to make him flourish, becoming a highly sought after man himself in the process.
It feels like a big money move to a big European club is likely to follow soon, which will line Coventry’s pockets given their reported sell-on fee. As for Brighton, they may look back on the situation as a rare mistake that has the Sky Blues sitting on their riches.
