The last time Viktor Gyokeres graced the pitch at Sporting CP\u2019s Estadio Jose Alvalade in May 2025, he scored his 53rd goal of the season.<\/p>\n
His 82nd-minute strike in a routine win over Vitoria Guimaraes helped the club defend their Liga Portugal title, finishing two points ahead of a Benfica side that had battled hard to ensure the league title would be decided on the final day of the season.<\/p>\n
Gyokeres scored 97 goals in 102 matches for Sporting during his two-year stint in Portugal from 2023 to 2025. It meant he entered the 2025 summer transfer window as one of the hottest commodities on the market \u2014 and was being targeted by some of the biggest clubs in Europe.<\/p>\n
![\"VIKTOR-GYOKRES-SPORTING\"](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2023\/12\/19055900\/VIKTOR-GYOKRES-SPORTING-scaled.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n\n Gyokeres had a freakish goalscoring record at Sporting CP (Photo: CARLOS COSTA \/ AFP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n His former head coach, Ruben Amorim, was in post at Manchester United at the time, with many thinking it seemed logical the Swede would join him at Old Trafford, although Arsenal, who were crying out for a striker and had made signing one a priority, were also interested.<\/p>\n Arsenal had their eyes on Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko, then at RB Leipzig. At the beginning of the transfer window, Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, appeared to have a preference for Sesko, even if there were some concerns about his readiness to hit the ground running as he had only just turned 22.<\/p>\n The club\u2019s hierarchy, however, favoured Gyokeres, with Arteta eventually coming to agree with them on prioritising the move, prompting a five-year deal with a \u20ac63.5million fixed fee (\u00a355.4m; $73.3m) with a further \u20ac10m in possible add-ons.<\/p>\n Given his thirst for goals and Arsenal\u2019s need for a player capable of ending their more than two-decade wait for a Premier League title, having turned into perennial runners-up, it seemed a match made in heaven.<\/p>\n Two goals in a dominant 5-0 win against Leeds United in only their second game of the season fuelled the narrative that his goalscoring rate had followed him from Portugal to north London. That proved to be a false dawn, and a hamstring injury, leading to him missing more than a month of action between September and October, only compounded the forward\u2019s early struggles.<\/p>\n The view from some at Sporting, where Gyokeres\u2019 quality is remembered fondly despite his exit, has never wavered, though.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was always going to initially struggle in Arteta\u2019s system,\u201d a Sporting source, speaking, as others, on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, says of Gyokeres. \u201cHe is being asked to do things that are completely unnatural to his strengths and characteristics as a striker.\u201d<\/p>\n Arteta\u2019s Arsenal, to great effect for the majority of this season, can suck up pressure, control the tempo of the match and create wide-overload sequences. They are not bad at set pieces, either. But Gyokeres is a different type of player; he is direct, plays off the shoulder, thrives on early passes, and wants to penetrate space in behind and cause anarchy amongst the opposition\u2019s back line.<\/p>\n A source close to the Sporting dressing room says they were not surprised by his slow start. \u201cHe hadn\u2019t done preseason, was out of shape. The Premier League is the best league in the world, and any great player needs time to adapt to it,\u201d he tells The Athletic.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNevertheless, he\u2019s been having a very good season. Next season will be even better, as he\u2019ll be more adapted to the league and the coach\u2019s ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n At a press conference in December, and with Gyokeres still struggling, Arteta implored the player\u2019s critics to \u201cleave him alone\u201d, adding, \u201clet him do what he does best, be behind him, and I\u2019m sure things will turn out in the right way\u201d.<\/p>\n When confronted with the conundrum of either dropping him and potentially setting fire to any confidence Gyokeres had or persevering with him, Arteta chose the latter \u2014 and it started to pay off.<\/p>\n Since the turn of the year, he has scored 10 goals in all competitions for Arsenal (including in Saturday\u2019s defeat to Southampton) and adding four in two games for Sweden to fire them to the World Cup during the March international break. He looks to have found his feet, even if the numbers are not replicable to his time in Portugal.<\/p>\n The Sporting source added: \u201cDespite the doubts and noise, and even the pressure he was put under from the media who kept insisting he wasn\u2019t good enough and is underperforming week after week, Viktor only ever kept his head down and never gave up. He is a beast mentally.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you are slowly beginning to see Arteta and his team-mates understand much better what he can offer to the team and what his strengths are. The goal against Inter in the Champions League, for example, was classic Gyokeres.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone here knew that he wouldn\u2019t be the one quitting when he had a tough start.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the early struggles, Gyokeres is Arsenal\u2019s top scorer in the Premier League, notching 11 goals, which is five more than Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze. And he could also end the campaign with a Premier League title, with Arteta\u2019s squad nine points clear of Manchester City.<\/p>\n So, as he returns to the Alvalade on Tuesday, albeit in different colours and with the intention of giving Arsenal the upper hand in the Champions League quarter-final before the return fixture at the Emirates on April 15, you would expect the home supporters to give him a warm reception \u2014 even though he left under a cloud, after making it clear he did not intend to report for pre-season.<\/p>\n \u201cHe left a very big legacy at Alvalade,\u201d the source close to the dressing room says.<\/p>\n \u201cHe left as one of the top scorers in the club\u2019s history, and there are few players who have had such a huge impact on the team.<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth is that the way he left the team upset some fans. Even so, there are more fans who adore him than those who were upset. He is a player who left a deep mark in the club\u2019s history. His celebrations, his way of being on the pitch \u2014 many fans idolise him and regard him as a God.\u201d<\/p>\n Gyokeres may not be the free-scoring player he was during his two years at Sporting, but he has continued to improve at Arsenal, and if anyone will be aware of the danger he poses, it will be the club where he established himself as one of the most deadly strikers in Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The last time Viktor Gyokeres graced the pitch at Sporting CP\u2019s Estadio Jose Alvalade in May 2025, he scored his 53rd goal of the season. 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