Striker Leeds wanted tipped for near £100m transfer after 8 goals in 9 games

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Had Leeds United avoided relegation from the Premier League last season, would Viktor Gyokeres be leading the line at Elland Road these days? 

Such questions are, of course, highly hypothetical. But, with The Athletic’s Leeds United expert Phil Hay reporting that the Yorkshire giants were indeed keeping tabs on the then-Coventry City talisman, then it’s no stretch to suggest that relegation not only cost the club their top-flight status, but also wrecked any hopes they may have had of luring arguably the most complete centre-forward in the EFL. 

Viktor Gyokeres would eventually join Sporting CP instead – making the less-travelled path from Coventry to Lisbon – and his numbers in the green-and-white of Los Leoes are serving to silence those who questioned whether the Swede could make the step up from England’s second tier. 

Gyokeres has eight goals in nine games for Sporting already. Two of those have come in the Europa League, including one against Atalanta.

And, as Portuguese reporter Vitor Pinto explains in conversation with Calciomercato, the £20 million fee Sporting paid Coventry could soon look like a bargain. If it isn’t already, of course. 

“It will be very difficult to keep Gyokeres (beyond 2023/24). He is the player of the season at the moment. He has had a huge impact on Sporting and the league,” Pinto argues. “A great discovery from Sporting.

“It’s not common for players to be sold for 100 million euros, but Gyokeres can reach figures very close to that. If it continues like this, it will be very difficult for Sporting to keep the player.”

Joel Piroe in top form at Leeds United

Leeds, at least, can console themselves with the almost-goal-a-game stylings of their own marquee striker signing. If Gyokeres was the most complete, all-round number nine in the Championship last term, then Joel Piroe wasn’t far behind. 

Piroe has hit the target five times for Leeds already. But should Daniel Farke do what Marcelo Bielsa did back in 2020 and bringing Premier League football back to Elland Road, he – like Viktor Gyokeres – will be under pressure to prove that those Championship performances can be emulated on a bigger stage.