Position: Striker
Age: 25 *
At Club Since: January 2021
Total Club League Appearances (Goals): 114(41) *
After a break-out first full year in Sky Blue, Viktor Gyokeres has taken the next step in his development this season in becoming a genuine leading man feared by every team in the division. A return of 17 goals and seven assists from 36 games thus far this campaign is impressive enough, but it is just how constant of a threat that Gyokeres has been in essentially every game this season that truly marks his brilliance. On top of the sheer work-rate, physicality and skill, the Swede now plays with a genuine swagger, demanding the ball from his team-mates and seeming to relish opportunities to embarrass opposing defenders with his trademark silky, bulldozer style as he has matured into his status as the best centre-forward outside of the Premier League.
What Viktor Gyokeres is able to do, and in every single game, is genuinely extraordinary, he possesses a skill-set that very few other strikers – and that’s going up to the very top levels of the game – have. That ability of Gyokeres to get on the end of balls played in his general direction, where he is so often second-favourite by some distance to get to, to muscle off defenders and then to drive directly at goal sees him fulfil the role of at least three different attacking players and perform each of those roles at the highest standard. It has become a crutch for this team to send vaguely hopeful balls his way, yet it is a strategy that is more effective than it isn’t. A criticism of Gyokeres last year was that, for everything he brings to the team, he was neither particularly clinical in his finishing nor effective in his link-play to produce the scoring and creative output he deserved. This season, Gyokeres has become increasingly ruthless in front of goal while also becoming increasingly aware of how and when to play his team-mates through on goal. Viktor Gyokeres is the complete package, and then some.
There simply won’t be another footballer of Viktor Gyokeres’ quality and output at Coventry City again for a very, very long time. The debate as to just how the Sky Blues would go about replacing Gyokeres when he inevitably leaves is one for a time when this team does not have a chance of achieving something with him to call upon. For now, the question with Viktor Gyokeres is just how much Coventry City can harness from him in the time he remains at the club. He is a once-in-a-generation (or two, or three) footballer for this club, the onus really should be on extracting a tangible achievement while he is still here.
Previous Profiles: New Signing,10 Games In, Permanent Signing, 25 Games In, 50 Games In, 75 Games In
*As of 09/05/2023
Sideways Sammy 