Viktor Gyökeres bids farewell to Portuguese football the only way he knows how: by scoring | OneFootball

He came, he saw, he conquered. It was fitting that Viktor Gyökeres’ final game for Sporting Clube de Portugal should result in yet more adulation for the Swede as his crucial goal proved the catalyst for another triumphant day for the Lions. Zach Lowy reports on the impact the former Coventry City centre-forward has had on Portuguese football in general and the Lisbon club in particular.

Over the past few seasons, Sporting Clube de Portugal supporters have grown accustomed to seeing their best players walk out the door for lucrative transfer fees. After ending a 19-year title drought in 2021, Sporting sold star left-back Nuno Mendes to Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of €45 million. The following summer would see them part with midfield duo Matheus Nunes and João Palhinha, who joined Premier League sides Wolves and Fuham for a combined €72.3 million, whilst Manuel Ugarte and Pedro Porro headed to PSG and Tottenham for a combined €100 million.

Sporting have already cleared space in the wage bill and earned themselves some lucrative profits after selling homegrown duo Dário Essugo and Geovany Quenda to Chelsea for €74 million, whilst Marcus Edwards has also joined Burnley for €10 million after winning promotion to the Premier League with the Clarets. Other players like Francisco Trincão, Gonçalo Inácio and Ousmane Diomande could find themselves headed for the exit door, but there’s absolutely zero doubt that Sporting will be losing one player in particular this summer: Viktor Gyökeres.

On 13 July 2023, Sporting acquired Gyökeres for a club-record transfer fee of €20 million (plus €4 million in add-ons), whilst Championship side Coventry City reserved 10-15% of a future transfer. The Swedish striker penned a five-year deal with a release clause of €100 million. Gyökeres took Portuguese football by storm with 43 goals and 15 assists in 50 appearances, leading Sporting back to the apex of domestic football with an unbelievable 29 goals in 33 league fixtures. In addition to being the Primeira Liga’s top scorer, he was also named as the Best Player of the Liga Portugal season. After watching Porto and Benfica lay claim to Portugal’s top prize, Sporting were back on top.

Somehow, someway, Sporting managed to keep hold of Gyökeres for the 2024/25 season, which saw him score 10 goals in his first six league matches and lead the charge for Sporting’s unbeaten start to the campaign. The Lions looked set to become the first Portuguese team since Benfica 2016/17 to successfully defend their crown after a scintillating start to the campaign, but Ruben Amorim’s departure to Manchester United in November threw those plans into disarray, with his replacement João Pereira struggling to convince before being sacked and replaced by Rui Borges. There were plenty of bumps in the road, like three straight draws in February, or a 1-1 draw to Braga in April which saw Benfica take temporary ownership of first place. However, Sporting would end up winning five of their last six and drawing 1-1 at Benfica, allowing them to edge the Eagles to the league title on the final day.

Gyökeres had five shots (three on target) in Sunday’s Portuguese Cup final. Photo: Arlindo Homem ©

After becoming the first Sporting team in 71 years to win back-to-back league titles, Borges’ men had a new mission before them: to become the first Sporting team in 23 years to complete the league and Taça de Portugal double. Keen to secure revenge against their crosstown rivals, Benfica came out raring to go and put Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva under intense pressure during the first half, and they would get their just rewards in the 47th minute as Orkun Kökçü fired a long-range missile past Silva into the bottom left corner. They looked to have doubled their lead shortly after, only for Bruma’s goal to be ruled out due to a foul from Álvaro Carreras in the build-up. Desperate for a response, Borges introduced Hidemasa Morita for Zeno Debast at the hour-mark as well as Quenda and Conrad Harder for Geny Catamo and Pedro Gonçalves in the 75th minute, before later bringing on Matheus Reis and Iván Fresneda.

Merely 50 seconds remained of the 10 minutes of added time when Gyökeres latched onto a through ball, dodged the attempted tackle of António Silva and raced into the box before being brought down by Renato Sanches, following that up with a coolly converted penalty into the bottom right corner. And then, similar to Luis Suárez in the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, he proceeded to hurdle over the advertising boards and celebrate with the Sporting fans who had made the trek to the Jamor National Stadium. It was almost as if to say: “I may be leaving Portugal, but not for another half-hour.”

In the 97th minute, Benfica cleared a corner kick which made its way towards Trincão. Rather than take a couple of touches to weigh up his options, Trincão utilized his wand of a left foot to deliver a magical cross towards Harder, who rose above the rest and headed home into the back of the net. They sealed the deal in injury time as Gyökeres attracted the attention of a number of Benfica players before finding Harder, who teed up Trincão, who hoodwinked António Silva and tucked it into the back of the net.

It was far from Gyökeres’ best performance, but it was good enough to get the job done. Similar to Herculez Gomez, Gyökeres has the predatory instincts to constantly lurk in the shadows and make his way towards the box at just the right moment. It’s these poaching instincts that have seen him finish as the top scorer in Europe’s major leagues with 39 Liga Portugal goals, well ahead of the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane. All things considered, Gyökeres closed out the campaign with an astonishing 54 goals and 13 assists in 52 appearances.

Gyökeres and Benfica centre-back António Silva have had intense battles over the past two seasons. Sunday was no different. Photo: Arlindo Homem ©

However, goals only go so far as to define Gyökeres’ inevitability. Even when he wasn’t scoring, he was still making his presence known against Portugal’s second-best side, winning four fouls, coming out on top in six out of 10 ground duels, and registering three key passes. He racked up five shots (three on target) and completed 19 out of 26 passes. It was the fifth time in his last seven matches that Gyökeres scored, and it’s yet another reason of why, this summer, Gyökeres will shatter Bruno Fernandes’ club-record transfer fee and make the move to one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

He has delivered numbers that rival the likes of Radamel Falcao and Mario Járdel, staking his claim as one of the greatest strikers in the history of Portuguese football and backing it up with a sufficient amount of trophies. Whilst his contract expires in 2028, it’s only a matter of time before Gyökeres walks out of the Estádio José Alvalade and leaves for more lucrative pastures. Indeed, it’s a reality that Portuguese football fans have grown accustomed to.

But for those of you who are using Gyökeres’ impending departure as a reason to feel nihilistic about the current status of Liga Portugal, it would behoove you to remember the iconic quote from the 1994 film ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and take solace in the fact that Gyökeres left two unforgettable seasons in Iberia’s lesser-known league.

“Some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice.”