When Swansea signed a forward loan in October 2020, it was not long before the excitement among players and fans turned to doubt and confusion.
If the ball were to be played for him, he would fail to keep him too often. Given the chance of finding a teammate, he would regularly choose a member of the opposition instead. Swans players quickly exchanged gaze. “Who is this guy?” was the general core.
'This guy' was Viktor Gyokeres, one of the most productive attackers in the world, who is now approaching a £ 70 million move to Arsenal.
Gyokeres had been excellent in Ruben Amorim in a little more than a season together in Sporting Lisbon and a switch to one of Europe's top five competitions always seemed inevitable when he kept shooting in an extraordinary rate after an extraordinary pace after the departure of the Portuguese last November.
At the age of 27, Gyokeres, who had a long-term relationship with fellow Sweden International Amanda Nilden, is a star of the worldwide game.
He scored 39 goals in 33 Primeira Liga matches in the past term, six out of eight in the Champions League and nine in six in the Nations League for Sweden, where he has a potentially frightening partnership with Alexander Isak. His general record for sport is 97 in 102 competitions, plus 28 assists. Gyoke's goal celebration, where he covered half of his face with his hands to look like a mask, has had fans everywhere who copied and debated about the origin. Gyokees is happy to have them guessed.
It is all far removed from that temporary move to Swansea from Brighton four years ago. Young players should sink or swim during their early loan periods and in South Wales, Gyokeres certainly did not swim.
“He looked out of his depth,” a former teammate told Mail Sport. “You would play the ball in him and it would bounce from him. He would give it away. He just didn't look up.
'First loans can be a wake-up call. Most players blow through the youth and football under 21 and they think that the next step will happen naturally. Viktor came to 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 in Aberdeen, but has played a similar role at Coventry of 2018-2022 and was aware of Gyokees from his time in the Under-17 Kant at the Swedish club as a Brommapojkarna.
Gyokees moved to Brighton and then switched to the German club St. Pauli on loan for the 2019-20 campaign, where he really started to pull Badlan.
“They often used it on the left wing, but he would still score from that position,” Badlan recalls. “He fitted in the profile of what we wanted – a powerful, athletic attacker who would stretch the game.”
Gyokees scored seven in 28 games in Germany, but when he returned to England, he was still on the runway. That difficult enchantment at Swansea brought only one goal in 12 and when he came to Coventry, initially on loan, in January 2021, the performance of Gyokeres in the same way was unobtrusive.
A former Sky Blues player admitted: 'He did not work at first, but the club still paid £ 1 million to sign him from Brighton and we asked each other' Why did they do that? '
'But when he returned for the preseason in 2021, it seemed that he had been to the gym all summer. Suddenly he was a monster. Everything just followed from there.
“He scored 18 that year and it was a bit of a surprise that he did not leave it at the end of it. The season he helped get Coventry to get the play-off final. '
Gyokeres belongs to the HCM stable, which represent 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, Gyokees had a clear idea of where he was going. When the interest in him started to grow, the club's recruitment staff were told that Gyokees would only consider offers from established Premier League clubs or high-level teams in Italy, Spain, Germany, France or Portugal. “If someone else calls, I am not interested,” it is assumed that Gyokees informed them.
“His mentality is of the charts,” Badlan explains. “Even at that stage he had mapped his career. He was a bit sloppy as a player then, but he is so strong in his mind.
'The only problem can be if he goes a few games without scoring. He is so determined that he can hit himself a little, but soon he goes back to basics and he comes back on the right track.
'I spoke with many Premier League clubs about him. My feeling was that although he might not be ready to go directly to someone's first team as a NO1 Center-Forward, he would reach that level within six months, because he is mentally so strong. '
Talking straight and with a level of trust that falls on the right side of arrogance, Gyokees is nevertheless described as 'a good teammate' by those who played with him in Sky Blue.
“He was never a recluse,” says someone. 'If you have organized a social or evening out, he would always be there. But in the training you would see how dedicated he was to improve his game.
“When we played small games, he hated to lose. He was quite demanding from the coaches. If he had the feeling that he hadn't gotten anything that he needed from a session, he would ask for more finishing exercise or practice different types of finishes. '
Gyokeres scored 44 goals in 116 games for Coventry and some of those clubs that might move to him could have had him for much less than they have to pay today.
So what did she postpone? First the price tag. Owner Doug King van Coventry had made it clear to all the lovers that he would not listen to offers of less than £ 20 million. Secondly, Gyokeres's contract only had 12 months to walk. Why pay a lot of money now if the player can agree a free transfer the next winter?
Thirdly, Gyokeres had told senior figures in the club that his heart was on sporting sports. Everton, Wolves, Brentford and West Ham all followed the situation, but Gyokees only had eyes for Lisbon. However, his thinking would certainly have changed if one of the Elite clubs in England had made a serious move.
Gyokees and his advisors had discovered that if he moved to a wrestling Premier League club, he can end the season back in the championship with his reputation. By moving to Portugal, he placed himself centrally in both domestic and European competition.
“Although he is fast, he does not stand out for his speed in the way a player like Kylian Mbappe does that,” says another former Coventry colleague. 'What distinguishes him is how he combines pace with aggression.
“He throws his body in it, throws his shoulder in it. If he is in a race with a defender and it is 50-50 or he is not a favorite, he will still make sure he wins.
'He is brilliant in securing a center-back and then rolls him. As soon as he has received you in that place, he will take you off and even if he cannot run away from you, it is difficult to get the ball away from him. If you mark him, give him a garden with space and try not to be too tight. '
If Gyokees lands in the Premier League, it will be fascinating. Despite his scoring record in Portugal, there is still skepticism about whether he can regularly deliver for an English club at Champions League level. Although FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting can compete with every club on the continent, the Portuguese top flight misses the depth of England.
One thing seems certain: if Gyokeres return to England, we will see that 'mask' celebration again. Gyokeres revealed last year that it was a tribute to Bane, the villain in 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, played by Tom Hardy.
“Nobody gave who I was until I set up the mask,” is one of the characteristic lines of Bane. Gyokees used the quote in an Instagram message, in addition to a video of his goals from the 2023-24 campaign. Premier League Superstar or Flat-Track Bully? The truth is about to be revealed.
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