Gyökeres stats analysis (by Sam Tighe)
When it comes to strikers, goals tend to speak for themselves — and Gyökeres’ whopping tally of 33 for club and country so far this season is a powerful statement. As Tor notes, he has showcased all manner of power, technique, cunning and cold-bloodedness over the past 18 months, laying waste to a series of teams. Already this season, he has scored hat tricks against Azerbaijan, Estrela, Farense and Manchester City.
The caveat here is that three of those four teams are extremely weak — and indeed, the quality in the lower half of Portugal’s Primeira Liga is severely lacking. This, plus a healthy dose of penalties (seven in the league and Champions League last season; eight already this term), plus Sweden’s curious positioning in UEFA Nations League C — allowing him to plunder nine goals by playing Azerbaijan, Estonia and Slovakia home and away — has clouded the statistics somewhat.
Perhaps, then, it’s more appropriate to judge his impact against fellow domestic powerhouses Benfica and FC Porto. He met them seven times last season, scoring four and assisting two; and this term he has notched three more against Porto in two games.
He has outperformed his expected goals (xG) mark for three straight seasons and has done so by a healthy margin (especially last season, when he scored 6.9 goals more than expected). This is typically the sign of a reliable, excellent finisher.
But it’s not just the shooting statistics that paint a glowing picture: His 4.2 shot-creating actions per 90 places him in the 94th percentile across Europe for chance creation among forwards; in the domestic league, he’s third in his team for key passes (22), just behind Sporting’s chief creator Pedro Gonçalves in terms of expected assists (3.2 to 3.1) and he’s top dog for progressive carries (51).
True, he cleans up against weak opponents, but this should not be seen as a barrier to progress; there are so many other facets to his game that shine. A player who can sprint, carry the ball, create space for shots and finish like he does could call any elite club in the world home.
Liftoff at Sporting
There was an acceptance at Coventry that Gyökeres would eventually leave.
“He rang me before the summer when he knew he was potentially going to be leaving,” Badlan says. “He said to me: I only want to go to 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 recent scoring form has led some to question why bigger clubs didn’t take a punt on the €24m fee (including add-ons) which Coventry were demanding, but that is 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.
Former Portugal international centre-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 Ruben 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.”
“I want to finish this season at Sporting,” he said last week. “I love it here. We will see [about a new club] when the time comes. I want to play, that’s crucial, and there will be also other factors.”
Amorim was also quoted by A Bola as saying: “I will not sign any Sporting player at Man United in January … then, what happens in the summer I don’t know.”
However, Carriço believes nothing can be ruled out. “For sure, Ruben wants him at Man United,” he says. “Ruben said in the next market [January] that he will not [target] Gyökeres but we never know. Football is a box of surprises, and we will see in the next months what is going to happen.
“Everybody knows the Portuguese league is good but not good enough for that kind of player. The numbers he is doing are amazing, competing with the best strikers in the world. Sporting has to accept in the next market or the summer market, it will be impossible to keep a player like him.”
A summer move for Gyökeres would appear more likely at this point, when United could have competition from Manchester City given Sporting’s sporting director, Hugo Viana, will have by then completed his move to replace Txixi Begiristain at Etihad Stadium. “Don’t rule out City given Hugo’s arrival,” one well-placed source told ESPN.
Arsenal have also scouted Gyökeres and are likely to be in the market for a forward next summer. Sources have told ESPN that Arsenal expect a quiet January window, unless injury dictates a change in policy or an unexpected opportunity arises. However, they have been long-term admirers of RB Leipzig‘s Benjamin Šeško. Šeško signed a new contract with Leipzig last summer, but there is a belief that he could be available at the end of this season, and the Gunners are monitoring his situation closely. They are also admirers of Newcastle’s Alexander Isak — Gyökeres’ strike partner with Sweden — but a likely fee in excess of £100m complicates any pursuit.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta chose not to be drawn on Gyökeres on the eve of the game, deliberately sidestepping questions about the player’s potential impact. This is nothing particularly new — he often shuts down around big games out of a desire not to rile or motivate an opponent — but some might also view his lack of engagement through the prism of Arsenal’s reported interest.
Across London, Chelsea unsuccessfully pursued a deal for Victor Osimhen before he left Napoli to join Galatasaray in the summer. They are keen on adding another forward and have also kept tabs on Gyökeres for some time.
Whatever his next step, Brommapojkarna will watch on with pride. “As with all of our academy players who have made their mark in international and national football there is of course an increased level of attraction for our club and academy [when players like Gyökeres do well],” Eklund says. “We are very proud of all the players who have gone through our academy and follow them as great supporters along the way.”
