"Better than Erling Haaland" - Coventry City view given on Viktor Gyokeres situation | OneFootball

Our Coventry fan pundit is not surprised to see former player Gyokeres ripping it up in Portugal

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Viktor Gyokeres is one of the hottest properties in world football right now, but just under 18 months ago, he was plying his trade in the Championship with Coventry City.

Gyokeres first joined the Sky Blues on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion in January 2021, and he became a permanent Coventry player in July 2021, after he had failed to break into the Seagulls' senior side.

He went on to become one of the Championship's best players in his time at the CBS Arena, and attracted attention from numerous top clubs across Europe for his impressive performances in front of goal.

The Stockholm-born striker soon made the move to Portuguese giants Sporting CP last summer, and he has improved even further to be one of the best forwards in the recent history of the Primeira Liga, with his unstoppable goal-scoring exploits making him one of the most coveted players in the sport right now.

No shock issued at Viktor Gyokeres' exploits by Coventry fan pundit

Gyokeres did enough in his loan spell with the Sky Blues to earn a permanent move to the club, and soon became one of the second-tier's premier frontmen at the CBS Arena as he bagged 17 goals in 45 league appearances in his first full season at the club.

He turned his performances up a further notch in 2022/23, and scored 21 times in 46 Championship games as he won a myriad of individual awards, such as the league's Player of the Month award in November 2022 and March 2023, as well as being named in the second-tier's Team of the Season by both the EFL and the PFA.

He attracted attention from numerous top clubs throughout his time at Coventry, but it was Sporting who won the race for his signature in 2023 for a reported fee of around €20 million, plus €4 million in bonuses,

Gyokeres' near 18 months in Portugal has seen him win the league title with Sporting in his debut season, as well as a whole host of individual awards that only look set to continue into this season, with an impressive record of 24 goals in 20 games in all competitions so far.

His talent was clear at Coventry, and our Sky Blues fan pundit, Ryan Murphy, has told us that he is not surprised that the Swedish international has gone on to reach such heights in the last year-and-a-half, and believes that he is better than Manchester City striker Erling Haaland right now, after we asked him if he is shocked at what he has gone on to do what he has done since leaving the club.

“No, I’m not shocked in the slightest,” Ryan told FLW.

“When Everton came in, I believe for around 12 million pounds before he went to Sporting, and we told them that we wouldn’t sell him for that price at all, I thought they were mad for not coming back.

“I said at the time that he would go on to be a big, big player.

“Because he was let go by Brighton and didn’t make it there, I think clubs were worried it was a risk to sign him.

“I wasn't, at all, and was very shocked that other clubs didn’t come in for him.

“One of my mates supports Aston Villa, and I said he is the player you want to get, 100 percent, and he was laughing, but now I’ve even got him on side and he’s like ‘wow’.

“He’s absolutely smashing it. He scores all types of goals, he isn’t just a tap-in merchant.

“He can score tap-ins, he can score with his head, go on one-man runs, score free kicks, penalties. He’s an all-round striker.

“One thing that I’ve always loved about Gyokeres is that he is never injured.

“He gets battered all game, defenders trying to clatter him all game, but he gets up, carries on, and seems to always stay on for the whole 90 minutes."

Viktor Gyokeres, Erling Haaland claim made by Sky Blues fan pundit

Gyokeres bagged 43 times in 50 appearances in all competitions in his debut season at the Estádio José Alvalade, and led Sporting to a 20th Portuguese top-flight title, as they won the league at a canter under recently-appointed Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim.

He won six Player of the Month awards and the Primeira Liga Player of the Year award last term as a result of his standout form, and he has only continued his impressive scoring feats this season, with recent talk of a potential move back to the Premier League for a possible fee of around £80m after his hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League last month.

The 26-year-old Swede is bound to go on to even bigger things in his career, and our fan pundit Ryan believes that he is better than record-breaking City frontman Erling Haaland at this moment in time.

He said: “When he was at Coventry, I said to my friend, half joking, that he was better than Erling Haaland. He literally is now.

“I think he is a better player. If you put him in that Man City team, he would score as many goals as Haaland, if not more.

“Haaland is absolutely amazing one-on-one when through on goal, but Gyokeres runs from his own half sometimes, and I don’t see him doing those sorts of runs.

“I’ve said it from the minute he left Coventry, before he even did what he has done at Sporting, that if you stick him in the Premier League, he would be as effective as Haaland, if not better.

“I’m not shocked in the slightest that he is doing what he is doing, the only shock I have is that no Premier League teams tried to sign him before.

“I think they’ll be kicking themselves now, because they could have signed him for about £18 million, now they’ll be looking at £80 million. It’s unbelievable.

“I would back him to do a big job in the Premier League, 100 percent.”

Gyokeres may well make that move back to English football soon, with United, City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all linked with a move for his services in the coming months.

While he may not ever grace the pitch in the Championship again, Coventry fans can be safe in the knowledge that it was their club who were the biggest influence on making one of football's best strikers become the player he is today.