"Kicking themselves" - Everton and West Ham take flak for Coventry City transfer mistake | OneFootball

Carlton Palmer believes multiple Premier League clubs, including West Ham and Everton, will be frustrated at not signing former Coventry City striker Viktor Gyokeres during the summer following a great start to life with Sporting CP.

It has been nearly five months now since the Sky Blues cashed in on Gyokeres and they've certainly missed him.

The Sky Blues are struggling to get regular goals out of his replacements in the form of Haji Wright and Ellis Simms, whilst the Swede is going from strength to strength with his impressive form for the Portuguese outfit.

A figure of just over £1 million was spent on Gyokeres, and he repaid City in spades with 43 goals and 17 assists in 116 matches in all competitions after an initial loan from Brighton.

By the time the 2022/23 season ended and when Coventry had cruelly been defeated in the Championship play-off final, Gyokeres was always likely to depart alongside fellow star Gustavo Hamer.

That transpired in early July after lengthy negotiations, when Sporting won the battle for the 25-year-old's services, with official documents in November revealing that an initial €20 million (£17.5 million) was paid for the forward, with an extra €4 million (£3.46 million) in potential add-ons.

Per the official documents that were submitted by Sporting in November, as referenced by the Coventry Telegraph, the Sky Blues also have a sell-on clause.

That is currently set at around 15 percent of the next fee that Gyokeres goes for, but that percentage could be reduced to 10 depending on if the striker fulfills the criteria needed for Sporting to pay the add-ons to Coventry within that time.

According to Fabrizio Romano, multiple top clubs are interested in his signature after his fantastic start for the Portuguese giants.

What are the pundits saying about Viktor Gyokeres?

Ex-England international Carlton Palmer believes Premier League clubs missed a trick this summer in not taking a chance on the 25-year-old, who has gone on to prove his class even further in Portugal.

He said: "Clubs are monitoring the situation with Gyokeres, who has shown fine form since his summer move to Sporting. The Swedish international has netted 13 goals in his last 16 appearances.

"I'm surprised that no Premier League club had a punt on him after back-to-back top seasons in the Championship scoring 17 goals and 21 goals.

"He's very consistent and at €24 million he was surely worth a punt. However, Coventry are set to be the beneficiaries should he be sold, with up to 15 per cent profit on a future sale.

"Clubs like Everton and West Ham will be kicking themselves for not buying him when they had the chance."

What next for Gyokeres?

Gyokeres is already averaging over a goal contribution a game, with 19 goals and assists combined in 16 Liga Portugal appearances, and that included a goal against Lisbon rivals Benfica before the international break.

He also scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 4-2 win over Farense in the Allianz Cup in early November, whilst he also scored goals in his first two UEFA Europa League matches against Sturm Graz and Atalanta before being sent off against Polish outfit Rakow.

He claimed yet another assist last night against Atalanta to set up Englishman Marcus Edwards and is likely to be seen in English football again in the future given his start to life in the Portuguese top-flight.

Everton and West Ham could have missed a trick in not picking him up from Coventry the summer, as it's likely Gyokeres could be in line for a move to an even higher level and one of Europe's elite clubs next, should he leave the Portuguese giants.