Victor Gyokeres made a name for himself in the EFL Championship after giving consistent performances in a Coventry City shirt. He came into the limelight after a successful 2022–23 season in the English second division. A few clubs came to sign him, and the Swedish striker decided to join Portuguese giants Sporting CP.
The Portuguese club had to pay €20 million plus another €4 million in bonuses. Sporting CP last won the season in 2020–21 and are looking for their 20th Liga Portugal title. The 25-year-old was added to help the club get back to its glory days. Here is a look at how the Swedish striker can play a crucial role in their race for the title.
Experienced campaigner
Victor Gyokeres played 124 games in the English second division before moving to Sporting. He scored 41 times and created 17 goals. The above shot map shows all 294 attempts taken by the forward. He scored most of the goals from inside the penalty box and had a decent accuracy rate of 42.5%.
The breakthrough season
After taking his time in the first two seasons, the forward finally settled in his third season in the Championship. The 25-year-old had a breakthrough season in 2022, as he was involved in 30 goals for his side.
With an average of 0.4 goals per 90 minutes, Gyokeres managed to score 21 in total in the EFL Championship 2022–23 season. He attempted 140 shots in the season and had a 40% accuracy rate. The shot map shows that Gyokeres scored the majority of the goals from inside the box, but a few came from long range as well.
Adding to his 21 goals were nine brilliant assists. The forward created 75 shot-assist chances for his teammates, and nine were converted. By looking at the above viz, we can observe that Gyokeres provided a few cut-back passes and a few low crosses to help his teammates score a goal.
Scoring goals and creating chances for his teammates are not the only skills in his arsenal. Victor Gyokeres is a prolific runner with the ball, and his skills on the field have troubled the defenders.
The 25-year-old made 161 progressive runs, with the majority coming from the left side. These runs penetrated the opposition penalty box, and the player tried to dribble past the opposition defence on many occasions.
Gyokeres also managed to win 84 fouls for his team. These included two penalties as well. This shows that the player offers more than just his striking abilities.
New forward pairing
The Swedish striker has some company in the form of Paulinho. Both of these players have started regularly for the Portuguese club. The above graph shows the comparison of the percentile ranks of the two forwards from last season. Gyokeres is more of a dribbler and took more shots than his new teammate. Paulinho is a more dominant figure in the air and has a better positioning rank.
Decent start in new colours
In four league appearances this season, the forward has scored a couple of times. Both goals came in the opening match of the season. Once again, he found space inside the opposition penalty box to make most of his attempts.
Sporting CP will expect their forward to score more than 20 goals once again this campaign. He has found space inside the penalty box and converted his chances. The player will look to make a bigger impact after the international break.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
