Better than Ronaldo! Gyokeres immortalised as Man Utd move inevitable

Tom Weber

• Updated: 4 Jan 2025 11:41 GMT
• 3 min read

One of Portugal’s most influential sports newspapers believes that Viktor Gyokeres is the most impactful player the domestic league has seen in decades – and admits that a transfer to Manchester United seems inevitable.

The Swedish sharpshooter has begun 2025 in much the same fashion as he ended 2024. After scoring a record 62 goals in 63 games in the past calendar year, Gyokeres netted a hattrick in Sporting CP‘s stunning 4-4 encounter with Vitoria Guimaraes on Friday.

It was a frustrating result for the title-chasing Lisbon giants away at the former stomping ground of their new coach Rui Borges – already the second successor of Ruben Amorim after the sacking of Joao Pereira – but it again hammered home just what a special player Gyokeres is.

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It came at a fitting time, too, as just days before, the 26-year-old was showered with awards by Portuguese newspapers with all of them, naturally, naming him as their Player of the Year at a media outing.

However, influential A Bola has gone a step further as chief editor Hugo Vasconcelos suggests that there is a strong case to be made that Gyokeres is the most impactful player in the Portuguese top flight in at least two decades.

Gyokeres outshines Ronaldo

He argues that the last player to have the same level of impact as Gyokeres was Brazilian forward Jardel, who put up similar numbers to the Swede. Gyokeres has notched 73 goals and 21 assists in 78 games for Sporting, while Jardel managed 67 and 10 in 62 appearances.

The former Bolton loanee had even more success at Porto, netting an eye-watering 159 goals and providing 25 assists in 163 games. The fact that Gyokeres is mentioned in the same breath is high praise indeed.

Portugal has produced some of Europe’s finest players over the past two decades, including, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo. But he only played 31 times in the domestic top flight before making the jump to Man Utd.

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The outlet mentions Oscar Cardozo, Jonas (both Benfica), Hulk, Jackson Martinez (both Porto), Bas Dost and Liedson (both Sporting) as great strikers of the past, but Gyokeres outshines all of them.

Therefore, the report admits, it is entirely unsurprising that Man Utd would be interested in the former Coventry man and could perhaps even plot a January move despite Amorim’s assertions that he will not raid his former club this month.