Portugal To Premier League - How Will Gyokeres Fare?

"I don't deliberation he's nan guy," Rio Ferdinand says of Viktor Gyokeres.

"I've watched him astir apt 3 times really, really closely. And 3 times I've gone: 'He ain't getting that opportunity successful nan Prem.'"

Sweden striker Gyokeres, 27, has conscionable completed a move worthy up to £64m from Sporting to Arsenal.

Gyokeres has scored a phenomenal 97 goals successful 102 appearances for nan Portuguese club, and contributed 26 assists.

He averaged much than a extremity per crippled past season, pinch 54 successful 52 appearances.

But erstwhile he was being linked pinch Manchester United, Ferdinand said he was not convinced Gyokeres was a bully fresh for a squad successful England's apical flight.

The six-time Premier League winner, speaking connected his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, asked: "Is location capable - aft he's physically matched - to get him a goal?"

However, Bjorn Hamberg, Gyokeres' erstwhile adjunct coach astatine Brighton and chap Swede, tells BBC Sport: "He has sewage nan physicality for sure."

Arsenal were 1 of galore apical clubs linked pinch nan erstwhile Brighton subordinate aft an outstanding mates of seasons pinch Sporting, wherever he played nether Manchester United head Ruben Amorim.

In summation to his 39 goals successful Portugal's Primeira Liga successful 2024-25, Gyokeres helped himself to different six successful nan Champions League - including a hat-trick against Manchester City.

He has gone from leaving Brighton without playing a azygous infinitesimal of Premier League shot to becoming 1 of Europe's astir prolific marksmen - via indebtedness spells successful nan Championship astatine Swansea and Coventry, and successful Germany pinch St Pauli.

But really person different players fared erstwhile moving from Portugal to England? And really will Gyokeres compare?

There is nary uncertainty astir nan astir successful import from nan Primeira Liga - Cristiano Ronaldo, who besides came from Sporting.

The 18-year-old, past a winger, joined Manchester United for £12.24m in August 2003.

He went connected to people 118 goals successful 292 appearances for United - pinch 103 of those successful nan Premier League.

He won 3 Premier League titles, nan Champions League and a Ballon d'Or earlier a world-record £80m move to Real Madrid.

The adjacent astir prolific subordinate to make nan move from Portugal to England was besides a Sporting to United signing - Bruno Fernandes.

The now United skipper has scored 62 goals successful 195 Premier League appearances - pinch a full of 98 goals successful 290 games for nan nine - pursuing his January 2020 move for a interest of £47m, rising to £67.7m.

In betwixt those two, Nani besides made nan Sporting to United move successful 2007 and netted 25 times successful England.

Looking astatine out-and-out strikers, Mexico guardant Raul Jimenez has scored 59 Premier League goals for Wolves and Fulham.

He joined Wolves from Benfica for a past club-record £30m successful 2019 aft a successful indebtedness spell.

But for each Ronaldo, location is simply a Mario Jardel. The Brazilian won nan Golden Boot 5 times successful Portugal and netted 179 goals successful 176 games successful nan country's apical flight.

"His goals-per-game ratio is 2nd to nary anyplace successful nan world. We person recovered a striker who is going to people goals for america connected a regular basis," said Bolton head Sam Allardyce erstwhile they signed him successful August 2003.

Aged 29, he only made 7 substitute appearances successful nan Premier League, pinch his only 3 goals for nan nine coming successful nan League Cup.

Allardyce would spell connected to telephone him nan worst subordinate he ever managed.

Jardel was nan first Portuguese convention apical scorer to move to nan Premier League - pinch Gyokeres nan astir caller - and location were 3 successful between.

Benni McCarthy apical scored pinch Porto successful 2003-04 and 2 years later joined Blackburn Rovers.

In his first play pinch Rovers he scored 18 Premier League goals and was only 2 down Golden Boot victor Didier Drogba.

He would people 37 convention goals successful 109 games for Blackburn - and nary successful 11 for West Ham.

Carlos Vinicius and Darwin Nunez are nan different players to triumph caller Portuguese Golden Boots - some pinch Benfica - earlier less-than-prolific spells successful England.

Vinicius joined Tottenham connected indebtedness successful 2020 and past Fulham permanently successful 2022 - and has scored a mixed 8 goals successful 53 Premier League matches.

Nunez, meanwhile, has netted 25 goals successful 95 convention games for Liverpool since his £64m move 3 years ago.

Take a glimpse astatine nan database of starring goalscorers successful Europe's apical leagues successful 2024-25 and nan accustomed suspects are there.

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe managed 31 successful his debut play successful La Liga, Mohamed Salah contributed 29 goals arsenic Liverpool claimed nan Premier League crown, while Robert Lewandowski vanished connected 27 during Barcelona's title-winning play - 1 much than England skipper Harry Kane's tally for Bayern Munich.

Gyokeres, who is 6ft 2in, managed 39, though nan Primeira Liga is not considered 1 of nan apical 5 leagues successful Europe.

The mobility is whether he tin beryllium prolific successful a stronger league. He has conscionable turned 27 and is yet to play successful Europe's apical 5 divisions - hence Ferdinand's comments.

It is possibly worthy noting 35% of his goals successful 2024-25 came from penalties, arsenic he successfully converted each 19 of his spot-kicks.

There is small denying that Gyokeres is simply a goalscorer, but will he beryllium specified a occurrence against elite-level defences?

"Obviously pinch Arsenal's beforehand players there's going to beryllium competition," says Hamberg.

"I deliberation he's committed to fto spell again and evidently he understands that Arsenal will beryllium different measurement up successful nan ladder.

"At nan aforesaid time, successful his past fewer seasons, particularly successful nan Champions League, you tin spot he is astir apt much prepared than ever to return that situation on.

"He improves each twelvemonth and usually stays fit. He's conscionable 1 of those players who is bully astir nan box, a bully finisher, but he's besides rather beardown successful modulation and successful large spaces.

"So he's rather versatile successful that consciousness and I deliberation that's a really large point successful nan Premier League."

Gyokeres has already played for a Premier League club.

Having grounded to make nan grade, Brighton allowed him to subordinate Coventry for a mini interest successful July 2021 aft an unspectacular return of 3 goals successful 19 Championship appearances during a indebtedness spell pinch nan Sky Blues.

Two years later, he went to Sporting for £20.5m aft scoring 38 times successful 91 convention games for Coventry crossed nan 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

While successful Lisbon, Gyokeres has scaled caller heights and besides played connected nan world shape arsenic portion of an breathtaking attacking line-up for Sweden, alongside Newcastle's Alexander Isak and Tottenham's Dejan Kulusevski.

Gyokeres scored 9 goals successful six games for his state - including 4 successful 1 lucifer against Azerbaijan - successful nan 2024-25 Nations League.

But it is not conscionable his goals that person earned him attention.

Gyokeres is known for his intelligent activity and aggravated work-rate, and his blend of beingness strength, method accomplishment and tactical consciousness person earned admiring glances from clubs.

He is simply a creator arsenic good arsenic a goalscorer, pinch a batch of his chance creation coming from his emotion of moving pinch nan ball.

"When we had him, we had Glenn Murray who had scored double figures nan play before, and we signed Neal Maupay from Brentford," says Hamberg, who was Graham Potter's adjunct astatine respective clubs including Brighton.

"So past Viktor was for illustration nan 3rd aliases 4th [choice]. He would still play games for america successful nan Carabao Cup.

"From our constituent of position we were happy pinch him to person a support domiciled being young, and beryllium fresh to find an opportunity.

"But arsenic a person, erstwhile he has his mind connected thing he usually goes all-in for that.

"And past he really pushed to get retired connected indebtedness because he has conscionable had a mindset of 'if he plays he's going to do well'."

Gyokeres' erstwhile team-mates and coaches retrieve a young boy who cried erstwhile he lost. They talk astir a "stubborn kid" who was "wild, really aggressive" and would occasionally travel to blows pinch team-mates.

There are stories astir Gyokeres' single-mindedness, attraction and drive.

David Eklund, academy scout astatine his first elder nine Brommapojkarna, tells BBC Sport: "He was ne'er a superstar for illustration Dejan Kulusevski. But he scored goals. That's it.

"He had a beardown mentality but he's a really bully guy. He ever worked difficult and had nan thought of being a apical player, training each day. He wanted to beryllium group wrong."

Dennis Lawrence, who was portion of Mark Robins' backroom unit astatine Coventry erstwhile Gyokeres was there, says: "He's sewage that expertise to attraction connected and execute thing he wants."

Hamberg, who was adjunct head erstwhile Gyokeres was astatine Brighton and remembers nan young striker pushing for a indebtedness move because he felt he was not getting capable minutes, adds: "What I for illustration pinch him is that he's rather stubborn.

"His mindset is really good. He doesn't conscionable beryllium down and hold for thing to happen. He really wants to drawback it himself. He trains really he plays, he's conscionable a hard-working personification that is fresh to put a displacement in. When it goes bad he tin ever trust connected his activity ethic."

Additional reporting by elder shot news newsman Alex Howell