Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim has indicated that a move to Premier League duo Everton or Wolves never really appealed to Viktor Gyokeres before his £20 million move to Portugal.
With three goals and an assist in his first five Primeira Liga outings, the former Coventry City talisman is wasting no time in justifying Sporting Lisbon’s club-record investment.
Amorim’s side paid £20 million to bring Viktor Gyokeres to the Portuguese capital. The powerhouse Swede will make his Europa League debut later this week too, continental action providing further justification for Gyokeres’ decision to seal a big-money switch to Iberia despite receiving approaches far closer to come.
Viktor Gyokeres reportedly turned down Everton
“He really wanted to come to Sporting. We saw the offers, (sporting director Hugo) Viana showed me the proposals that the player had,” Amorim tells A Bola.
“He understood the project. He is a very ambitious player. And the clubs he had (trying to sign him) were probably not the ones he wants to go to in the Premier League.”
A Bola adds that, in addition to Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers, there was also interest from Fulham, Crystal Palace, Brentford and long-time admirers Burnley. None of the aforementioned sextet can offer even UEFA Conference League football this season, however, and perhaps Gyokeres felt that European exposure was a must if he is to establish himself as one of the first names on the Sweden team sheet ahead of Euro 2024.
According to TEAMtalk, Everton attempted to hi-jack Sporting’s deal; offering Josh Simms to Coventry as part of the deal. Gyokeres, however, only had eyes for Lisbon.
Likened to Erling Haaland
“He looks a yard more powerful and a yard quicker than everyone else. He’s a really confident boy,” Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray said after Gyokeres single-handedly ripped aside his defence with a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win in the spring.
“I don’t want to say he should test himself in the Premier League. But who is like him in the Premier League at the moment?
“Who is too fast, too strong and too big? You would suggest (Erling) Haaland is like that. And Gyokeres, in this league, looks a yard faster and stronger than the players he plays against in the Championship.”
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