Goalscoring is Gyokeres’ most evident attribute, and there’s no doubt he has been a objective machine in Portugal.
His 39 targets ranked as probably the most in Europe’s high 10 leagues final season, and he scored a minimum of eight greater than another participant.
It put him in an elite group – the one different gamers previously 20 years to have scored a minimum of 39 targets in a season in one in every of Europe’s high 10 leagues are Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Luis Suarez.
Twelve of Gyokeres’ Primeira Liga targets have been penalties, however his whole of 27 non-penalty targets was nonetheless three greater than anybody else. He averaged 4.5 photographs per 90 minutes, whereas Jesus had 3.0 and Havertz 2.6 within the Premier League.
He additionally had a mammoth 327 touches within the opposition field and appeared to undertake a ‘shoot on sight’ coverage with 139 efforts on objective – successfully one each 20 minutes.
His accuracy was much more spectacular.
The Swede’s shot-conversion price (excluding blocked photographs and penalties) of 27.3% was higher than Liverpool ahead Mohamed Salah (21.1%), Manchester Metropolis striker Erling Haaland (21.6%) and Newcastle centre-forward Isak (26.4%).
Certainly solely Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wooden had a greater conversion price within the Premier League.
Gyokeres additionally scored 9 targets in six video games for his nation – together with 4 in a single match in opposition to Azerbaijan – within the 2024-25 Nations League, ending the event as high scorer.
The query is whether or not Gyokeres could be fairly so prolific in a stronger league. He has now turned 27 and continues to be to play a single sport in Europe’s high 5 divisions.
Information analysts Opta rank the Portuguese Primeira Liga as eighth on the earth’s strongest leagues,, exterior behind the standard huge 5 (England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France), the Belgian Jupiler Professional League and even the English Championship, the place Gyokeres impressed earlier than transferring to Lisbon.
Sceptics will level to Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez struggling for consistency in England after scoring 26 targets in 28 Primeira Liga video games for Benfica in the course of the 2021-22 season.
However Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, Manchester Metropolis’s Ruben Dias and Bournemouth’s Evanilson have all thrived within the Premier League after strikes from Portugal.
And Gyokeres brings greater than targets.
The 6ft 2in striker is thought for his clever motion and intense work-rate, and his mix of bodily energy, technical talent and tactical consciousness have earned him admiring glances.
He’s a creator in addition to a goalscorer, with numerous his probability creation coming from his love of operating with the ball.
After failing to make the grade at Brighton, Gyokeres joined Coventry for a small payment in July 2021 after an unspectacular return of three targets in 19 Championship appearances throughout a mortgage spell with the Sky Blues.
Two years later he went to Sporting for £20.5m after scoring 38 instances in 91 league video games for Coventry throughout the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.
In Portugal he turned a scoring machine. As he returns to England, solely time will inform if he can replicate that success in opposition to elite-level defences.
About the Author
