Viktor Gyökeres has gone from Championship flop to one of Europe’s most in-form strikers in the space of just three years. Having struggled for most of his career, the Sweden striker scored 97 goals in 102 games for Portuguese club Sporting CP since moving from Coventry City for €20 million in July 2023, which was enough to persuade Arsenal to part with €63m (plus a potential €10m in add-ons) to bring him to the Premier League this summer.
– Finally! Arsenal get Gyökeres from Sporting CP
– Why did Gyökeres signing take so long?
It is all a far cry from January 2021, when he was on Brighton & Hove Albion’s books and had a dismal loan spell at Swansea City cut short. Even those who kept faith are surprised at Gyökeres’ stunning transformation.
Chris Badlan, now a scout for Aston Villa following a stint as head of recruitment at Scottish club Aberdeen, held a similar position at Coventry when Gyökeres arrived.
“I always thought Viktor was a Premier League striker, but did I see him being compared to [Manchester City striker] Erling Haaland? No, and not many people would,” Badlan told ESPN. “But did I think he’d score goals when I saw he’d signed for Sporting CP? Yes, 100%.
“The attributes he’s got, we all knew he’d be a very good striker. To get to the level he’s got to, you have to have a bit of luck like everybody, but you still have to have that mentality. Viktor has always wanted to be the best player he could be, and he’s gone and done that.”
Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared in November 2024 and has been updated to reflect that he’s completed a summer move to Arsenal.
Growing up in Sweden
Gyökeres joined Swedish club Brommapojkarna at the age of 16 and began work on converting from a winger to a center forward. “Whilst everybody else had normal training, I was training by myself on the other side of the pitch, honing something so basic,” Gyökeres said in 2024. “It was incredibly tough, but it took me to the next level.”
Brommapojkarna scout David Eklund tells ESPN: “We saw that he had the abilities to be a No. 9 striker with his strength and breakthrough capacity and started to focus on those abilities. He grew a lot and started to produce goals more and more regularly.”
Eighteen goal involvements in a breakthrough season followed, and the story of his final weeks at Brommapojkarna is the stuff of fairytales.
“Two weeks before his final game, we had secured promotion to Allsvenskan [Sweden’s top division] and we all knew that Viktor was leaving for Brighton after the season,” Eklund says. “In the final game we had our sights on winning the league, and Viktor also had an internal battle for being our top goal scorer, tied with Kevin Kabran.
“After scoring a hat trick, he was subbed off and the entire stadium stood up for him, as well as the players and staff on the bench. [It was] one of the great highlights in our history.”
Gyökeres’ move to Brighton in January 2018 appeared to signal a significant step forward, but his upward trajectory quickly flatlined. — James Olley
Technical analysis
Gyökeres had already attracted the attention of a vast number of European elite clubs when breaking through as a teenager at Brommapojkarna in the mid-2010s. His performances there and for Sweden’s youth sides earned him the “wonderkid” tag, and he was considered the country’s biggest attacking talent since Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
While sharp finishing skills have always been a part of his game, despite periodically failing to use them consistently, the 27-year-old has now refined those abilities to perfection. Whether thanks to added maturity or detailed coaching work by his former coach at Sporting, Ruben Amorim, he’s now capable of scoring from a wide range of means.
Perhaps what makes Gyökeres so prolific is his quick execution technique. When in possession of the ball in the box, he is excellent at mapping out the immediate surrounding area and will find the target either on the first contact with the ball or after minimal adjusting touches. He rarely dithers or overelaborates in front of goal. Though right-footed, he has become highly capable of finishing with his left — through power and picking his spot — or occasionally through fine heading technique.
It doesn’t matter if service comes from wide or central positions; he is extremely good at anticipating the movement patterns of defenders (i.e. where they will make positional runs). He regularly arrives on the blind side for a one-touch finish, often at the back post or from cutbacks. Yet what makes Gyökeres even more desirable for the elite clubs is how he conducts himself when venturing wide or into deeper areas. He can be a classic poacher in front of goal, but he also has the long-distance pace, ball-carrying skills and acceleration to cause real havoc in transitional play.
One relatively new technical detail is his capacity to deceive his marker when positioning himself wide, especially on the left. When being played into, he often uses a decoy step, or two, toward to make his opponent think he’s about to control the ball, inviting them to close him down or tackle. Instead, he’ll spin on the half-turn without taking a touch, pulling the opponent away from the ball turning his body to face goal and darting toward the box.
This detail is not only a feature usually privy to nimble wingers, but it also illustrates how quickly he picks up speed from a standing position, his intelligence and impressive mobility (which mustn’t be taken for granted in a 6-foot-2 center forward).
Beyond the mere technical and tactical aspects, Gyökeres plays with real confidence. Scoring goals makes for a virtuous circle, of course, but his immense self-belief is also likely a product of Amorim’s motivational skills and unwavering trust in the player. With his confidence levels right now, there is an extra level of energy to his play: The first touch is more assured, plus his audacious flicks and quick one-twos tend to come off, too. — Tor-Kristian Karlsen
England move has ups and downs
1:34
How transfer ‘speed dating’ helped Viktor Gyökeres to Sporting
Rob Dawson explains the concept of TransferRoom on “The Football Reporters” podcast, and how it helped Coventry City agree to a deal for Viktor Gyökeres with Sporting.
Gyökeres is viewed by many as the one who got away from Brighton, given the rapid acceleration in his development in recent seasons, but he is also by definition something of a victory for their recruitment model that identified him in the first place. Brighton have developed a reputation as one of the best identifiers of obscure talent through a data-led analytics model shrouded in secrecy and the brainchild of owner, Tony Bloom.
A source at Brighton with knowledge of the situation told ESPN that Gyökeres started reasonably well in Brighton’s under-23s, but the club decided a loan pathway was the best route. Gyökeres spent the 2019-20 season at German club St. Pauli, where he scored seven goals in 28 games, often deployed on the left wing.
Another source told ESPN that Brighton then preferred a second loan, this time to a club in English football where they could better gauge his ability. The six-month stint at Swansea that followed was a big disappointment. One source connected to Swansea told ESPN that Gyökeres “looked lost” at times, something underlined by a record of just one goal in 12 appearances across all competitions. That solitary strike came in an FA Cup third-round game at Stevenage.
By the time he returned to Brighton in January 2021, Gyökeres was at a crossroads. Sources told ESPN that Gyökeres had an option to go back to Germany, but he chose to join Coventry.
“Viktor is someone me and my chief scout at the time, Stuart Benthom, knew about when he was playing out in Sweden,” Badlan tells ESPN. “As a scout, you need to know who the best 16- and 17-year-olds are who are playing on the continent. Brighton had signed him so we followed him in their under-23s, he then went to St. Pauli and we just kept tracking him like you always do.
“We had an interest in [central defender] Leo Østigård at the same time [also on loan at St. Pauli from Brighton], so it kind of helped that when we watching Leo at St. Pauli, Viktor was there.”
Østigård joined Coventry in August 2020 and helped convince his friend Gyökeres to take a step down to the second tier of English football a few months later, initially on a six-month loan when he scored three times in 19 Championship matches.
“He was obviously very frustrated with what happened at Swansea,” Badlan says. “Brighton were looking to get him on a new contract, but I knew Viktor’s agent at the time well, having done deals with him at Norwich, and then we had two or three center forwards injured at the same time so we could show him the opportunity. It all married up because he wanted to play and we needed a striker straight away.”
Although Gyökeres started slowly, the summer of 2021 (when he turned 23) is considered a pivotal moment in his career. He spent the offseason working hard on his conditioning, returning for the 2021-22 preseason a different player.
“Viktor’s biggest strength is his mentality,” Badlan says. “When he decides he’s going to do something, he’s the type that will do it. He went away that summer almost as a man on a mission. He didn’t know where his future would be at Brighton, we wanted to sign him but maybe he thought he could get something else — and while his agent did the work he needed, Viktor’s focus was ‘right, wherever I end up, I’m going to make this all about me.’
“He worked on his strengths. He was already a powerful runner but all of a sudden in his shoulders, he got a bit more square, stronger in his core. It enabled him to roll defenders better. His mentality is ridiculous.”
Coventry eventually seized on the opportunity to sign him permanently in the summer of 2021 for a fee of around £1 million. Brighton had offered a new deal, but the pathway to the first team was blocked by what they felt at the time were better options, including Neal Maupay and Danny Welbeck.
Coventry deserve credit for the technical evolution in his game under manager Mark Robins, the former Manchester United striker. The positional ambiguity seemed to be a metaphor for the lack of direction in his career — Brommapojkarna claim to have made him more of a center forward, but Gyökeres would either start or naturally drift out to the left during those loan spells away from Brighton.
Finally and unequivocally, Gyökeres was converted from a left-sided forward to an out-and-out No. 9 striker.
“With Mark Robins and Adi [Viveash, assistant manager], they polished the rough diamond that he was,” Badlan says. “They simplified his game. They worked with him in identifying his best attributes. He still had that tendency when he started to drift into that left channel. He was almost playing as a left forward at St. Pauli.
“Part of his game now, a lot of his strengths come from that left side, coming in and getting that shot. Mark, being an ex-striker, helped Viktor understand his body, getting his positioning right, where to make runs, when to get the timing right.
“It also helped that the group at that time, we’re all really hungry: Callum O’Hare, Ben Sheaf, Gustavo Hamer, Viktor — they were all young and determined to get to that next level. There was a passion in all the players in the building. When I was speaking to players, a lot of the transfer strategy was ‘come here and use us a stepping stone, do what you need to do and make your move from there.’”
That is precisely what Gyökeres did. After scoring nine goals in his first 11 games after signing permanently, he would go on to register 44 goals in 116 games across all competitions before reaching another crossroads in 2022-23. — Olley
Stats analysis
When it comes to strikers, goals tend to speak for themselves — and Gyökeres’ whopping tally of 63 for club and country last season is a powerful statement. As Tor notes, he has showcased all manner of power, technique, cunning and cold-bloodedness over the past year, laying waste to a series of teams. He totted up seven separate hat tricks, including one against Manchester City in the Champions League.
There are some caveats to this tremendous feat, though: The other six hat tricks were scored against weak Primeira Liga opponents or poor international sides; Sweden dropped into UEFA Nations League C, meaning he was able to run riot against the likes of Azerbaijan and Estonia; and he took (and scored) 12 penalties in the league alone.
Perhaps, then, it’s more appropriate to judge his impact against fellow domestic powerhouses Benfica and FC Porto. He met them seven times in 2023-24, scoring four and assisting two; and in 2024-25 registered four goals and four assists across eight meetings.
He has outperformed his expected goals (xG) mark for three straight seasons and has done so by a healthy margin (he outperformed his xG by 6.5 goals in 2023-24, then 8.2 goals last term). Over the short term this could point to some luck, but over 66 games? It’s probably a sign that he’ll continue to be a top finisher.
Gyökeres is much more than just a shooter, too. Among all Sporting players in the league last season, he finished second for assists (seven), second for key passes (61) and second for shot-creating actions (154). He also topped the team for progressive carries (133), highlighting his ability to receive the ball deep and drive up the field. — Sam Tighe
Lift off at Sporting
0:56
Nicol: Viktor Gyökeres immediately makes Arsenal better
Steve Nicol reacts to the potential signing of Viktor Gyökeres to fill Arsenal’s striker spot.
There was an acceptance at Coventry that Gyökeres would eventually leave.
“He rang me before the summer [2023] when he knew he was potentially going to be leaving,” Badlan says. “He said to me: I only want to go to the Bundesliga, Portugal, Italy, Spain or Premier League. If anybody else rings you, I’m not going. He almost had his career mapped out in his mind.”
Sources have told ESPN that several Premier League clubs, including Everton, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, showed varying levels of interest in Gyökeres, but his preference was to join Sporting.
His scoring form in Portugal has led some to question why bigger clubs didn’t take a punt on the €20 million fee (plus €4 million in add-ons) which Coventry were demanding, but that’s easy to say in hindsight. At the time, Gyökeres had only one year remaining on his Coventry contract, but owner Doug King was steadfast in his valuation. The player’s camp viewed Sporting an appropriate next step, completing a deal which saw Brighton receive a considerable share of the fee.
“People say he is the one that got away, but it wasn’t a bad return for a player who never played a Premier League game for us,” a source close to Brighton told ESPN.
It is no exaggeration to suggest Gyökeres stunned everybody with his goal-scoring prowess at Sporting. In his first season, he scored a staggering 43 goals and registered 15 assists from 50 games.
Former Portugal international center back Daniel Carriço came through the youth ranks during a 13-year stay at Sporting and remains closely connected to the club following his retirement last year. He believes Gyökeres’ relationship with former head coach Amorim was pivotal.
“Gyökeres improved not only as a player, but Ruben has a lot of dynamics as a coach, wanting to play with the ball, and Gyökeres was like a new weapon for him,” Carriço tells ESPN. “Before he arrived, Sporting were not so strong in the space, and Gyökeres gave that quality to Ruben Amorim’s squad.
“He was the biggest weapon against all the teams and Ruben loved to have him in his first XI. Amorim improved his game in all the ways, not only physically, but technically he improved a lot. He knows how to move and beat defenders.”
Gyökeres’ second season at Sporting surpassed even the first, with 54 goals and 13 assists from his 52 games in all competitions. Transfer rumors were never far away and, with Amorim heading to Manchester United, it seemed that a move for a fee of around his €100 million release clause would represent good value. But United were beaten to the punch by Arsenal, and without having to go as far as triggering the clause.
“The players that are leaving the Portuguese league now, you are looking at €40 million to €60 million for a lot of the players who leave,” Badlan says. “So a striker with his goal record — and he’s doing it on the international stage — it is where football has gone. You get average players going for €30 million now. In the current market, that is the going price for a striker who has the goals he’s got, especially now he’s scoring for Sweden. You put him anywhere; he scores goals.” — Olley
1:34
Burley: Gyökeres signing puts Arteta under pressure
Craig Burley and the ESPN FC crew discuss Viktor Gyökeres’ potential link with Arsenal.
How he will fit at Arsenal
Clearly, Arteta demands far more than just goals from his strikers — they need to be able to press, to link play, to move wide and to contribute in every phase. From Alexandre Lacazette to Gabriel Jesus to Kai Havertz, each of the Spaniard’s choices at No. 9 have been functional as well as threatening (to varying degrees of success).
Gyökeres has proven himself well capable of hitting this sort of brief, which makes him a strong fit for the role and a good choice by new sporting director Andrea Berta.
The Swede plays with intensity and aggression — it borders on anger at times — as he jostles and fights with defenders, rolls his markers and finds space in behind the defensive line. He has a surprisingly strong sprint capacity for someone so big and can also act as a back-to-goal focal point. These excellent physical traits bring him right in line with many of the Gunners’ other recent recruits, as Arteta continues to key in on building an imposing squad that bullies as much as it thrills.
Arsenal’s clever, goal-scoring wide forwards will enjoy playing off Gyökeres and combining with him, as he’s the type to occupy multiple defenders’ attentions — and thus potentially creating openings elsewhere. His introduction will likely reduce the number of chances they get overall, though, as like all top strikers, he’s eager to shoot and shoulder the responsibility of winning games himself. — Tighe