Viktor Gyökeres

[MontenegrinCuler]

I am a regular watcher of the Championship and I saw this player play many times for Swansea and Coventry. He was alright but nothing special. He also was contracted with Brighton (before they became a top half team) and never managed to make a single Premier League appearance for them. For Brighton, he only managed to make the bench twice in any Premier League game.

He was loaned to Swansea in the Championship and failed to score a single goal for them.

He was loaned to the Bundesliga 2 and scored 7 goals in 19 appearances. The 2nd Bundesliga is roughly on par with the Liga Portugal or likely worse. At this time (21 years old) he was rated at £500k by Transfermarkt.

He moved to Coventry for a small sum of 1 million euros and in his first season, was again only a bench option.

After 2023, his performance began to pick up tremendously and he went from a player who could not even make the bench at Brighton and Swansea to a prolific scorer in the Championship, becoming arguably the best striker in the league in the space of a year, preceding which, he was unable to make a single Premier League appearance for Brighton or even be an effective striker in the 2nd league of Germany.

The first time Viktor Gyokeres played top division football is at the age of 25.

At the age of 25, which in my opinion, is an unusually late age to show unbelievable sudden improvement, he began to become one of the highest performing strikers in Europe, scoring 29 goals in one Liga Portugal season. He now has 16 goals in 10 appearances in this current season.

In my opinion, there are few explanations for how a player that was not even good enough to perform for the likes of Swansea, St Pauli and not even good enough to make the bench at Brighton has suddenly become a £70 million rated striker at Sporting.

For me it is hard to explain how a player goes from being poor or average to one of the best strikers in Europe in the space of a year. Whilst there are sometimes remarkable cases in which players suddenly become elite footballers, they are extremely rare.

Therefore, it is my strong belief that this player is a drug cheat.

For reference, here are his physical stats from his performance in the CL :

Top speed : 34.55km/hr

Average : 34.14 avg. per match!!!!!!!

34.55km/hr is generally considered to be around the highest echelon of top speed, usually we do not see players surpassing 35 or 36, this puts him as one of the fastest strikers in the world, but the most shocking thing, as highlighted, is the fact his average speed (likely referring to any high intensity sprint in game) is almost the same as his actual top recorded speed. So roughly every time he makes a high intensity sprint he is almost reaching his top speed.

His ridiculously strong physical performance along with his very unique and fast rise to elite level whilst previously being a 2nd division level footballer, in my opinion, suggests irregularities.

As my opinion is based purely on speculation, I don't proclaim it as fact and it is purely my opinion, however, I would be wary that when this player moves to a league with more stringent drug testing his performance may decline significantly.

So I believe we should avoid signing him lest his performance unexplainably decreases when he moves to a top league.

Makes sense but I have a strong disbelief in this. From what I've seen he does have quality finishing and fine technique for a striker, it's not like running or his strength are his only qualities. Not like drugs can make his finishing or technique any better than it would normally be.

So, he had the talent but wasn't able to unleash it for whatever reason earlier into his career imo. Could be confidence or motivation issues, could be struggling with certain aspects of his game and many more. Would not be the first example of an elite player that kicks his career off late.

 

[DonAK]

I'm sorry, but that entire doping speculation is stupid. Especially if you understand the implications getting caught doping have in the Nordic countries.

He's a late bloomer playing in a league and for a team that's really good for strikers.

Marmoush is a similar case. They're hardly the first strikers in the world who have taken their time to hit their stride.

 

[Iniesta Ultra]

So I will make a deal with you, you said different era means my example is not valid.

I'll give you fifty current athletes from major sports who were caught doping (they all have to be first division or world level).

If I can't come up with the list I delete my account, if you are wrong you delete yours, what do you say?

You trying too hard.

If he gets banned anytime this season for doping I'll give you 4k$, if he doesn't you give me 1k$. What do you say?

 

[Messi983]

Jamie Vardy played in the National league when he turned 25.

Just sayin'.

 

[draconifire]

Jamie Vardy played in the National league when he turned 25.

Just sayin'.

TRU.
Gyokeres or bust.

 

[ajnotkeith]

I'm sorry, but that entire doping speculation is stupid. Especially if you understand the implications getting caught doping have in the Nordic countries.

He's a late bloomer playing in a league and for a team that's really good for strikers.

Marmoush is a similar case. They're hardly the first strikers in the world who have taken their time to hit their stride.

I actually heard this some months before, there was a famous case of Robert Helenius (maybe @Porque will remember as he likes boxing) Helenius was a decent heavyweight boxer who said the exact same thing as you did, that doping in Nordic countries is shameful and really disgraceful to athletes.

The irony of that was he got caught doping himself last year 😂.

To be fair re speculation though, it's purely my intuition and I don't have a single bit of evidence to say he is really doping, and I also think the factors mentioned in this thread about the league being easy for strikers, playing for a very strong team vs Segunda level opposition etc are fair points to raise.

If it did end up that he moves to a big league with good testing and his performance decreases massively it still doesn't mean he was doping either. So on my part it's just pure opinion.

The main reasons I suggest it are :

1) Very high physical performance. He's extremely fast but also able to run extremely fast for the entire game. He's also basically never injured and never fatigued.

2) Rapid increase in ability. Usually in anti doping the athletes that become of most interest are the ones who develop extreme levels of improvement that is out of line with their career progression. In most cases, even the ones who explode late (I see Vardy mentioned here) there are reasons explaining why that happened. Vardy had personal issues and never played for a good team, but Gyokeres already had many chances before. Whilst I haven't watched him before Coventry and maybe a bit for Swansea, it confuses me how someone who couldn't make Swansea bench, Brighton reserves, even not so good for St Pauli became this good.

3) Drug testing in football specifically is extremely poor at lower levels, in fact, even in La Liga, it was said a few years ago that some players are being tested once a year and some not at all. In worse leagues drug testing doesn't really exist. Drug testing in football is only serious at the highest levels, like the Premier League.

But all of this is pure speculation and opinion and the people responding here also raise very valid points, which are more convincing than mine, so I advance this based on pure intuition on my part and certainly not fact.

What would be decisive in examining this case is if we can get his physical metrics from earlier in his career, but the records from back then probably don't exist.


Of course, innocent till proven guilty.

 

[Maradona37]

I actually heard this some months before, there was a famous case of Robert Helenius (maybe @Porque will remember as he likes boxing) Helenius was a decent heavyweight boxer who said the exact same thing as you did, that doping in Nordic countries is shameful and really disgraceful to athletes.

The irony of that was he got caught doping himself last year 😂.

To be fair re speculation though, it's purely my intuition and I don't have a single bit of evidence to say he is really doping, and I also think the factors mentioned in this thread about the league being easy for strikers, playing for a very strong team vs Segunda level opposition etc are fair points to raise.

If it did end up that he moves to a big league with good testing and his performance decreases massively it still doesn't mean he was doping either. So on my part it's just pure opinion.

The main reasons I suggest it are :

1) Very high physical performance. He's extremely fast but also able to run extremely fast for the entire game. He's also basically never injured and never fatigued.

2) Rapid increase in ability. Usually in anti doping the athletes that become of most interest are the ones who develop extreme levels of improvement that is out of line with their career progression. In most cases, even the ones who explode late (I see Vardy mentioned here) there are reasons explaining why that happened. Vardy had personal issues and never played for a good team, but Gyokeres already had many chances before. Whilst I haven't watched him before Coventry and maybe a bit for Swansea, it confuses me how someone who couldn't make Swansea bench, Brighton reserves, even not so good for St Pauli became this good.

3) Drug testing in football specifically is extremely poor at lower levels, in fact, even in La Liga, it was said a few years ago that some players are being tested once a year and some not at all. In worse leagues drug testing doesn't really exist. Drug testing in football is only serious at the highest levels, like the Premier League.

But all of this is pure speculation and opinion and the people responding here also raise very valid points, which are more convincing than mine, so I advance this based on pure intuition on my part and certainly not fact.

What would be decisive in examining this case is if we can get his physical metrics from earlier in his career, but the records from back then probably don't exist.


Of course, innocent till proven guilty.

You trying to take away my 'longest post of the year' award come 31st December?

Just joking. I am very suspicious of PEDs in football too.

 

[Ter Stature]

Some schizoid posts in here for sure, on one hand the guy is in a farmers league but also must be doping.

It's not really a surprise that a striker struggles in bad teams, considering how many chances we generate he would feast here, anything else is delusional.
Not saying that he wouldn't have some totally off games.

Wood one of these best strikers in Prem is 32 too, some just take longer.

 

[Porque]

@ajnotkeith . The majority of top boxers will be on something because of the nature of the sport and testing periods and able to cycle. But I get the idea that you just don't go from low KO rates to a KO power overnight, or running X per game to greatly enhanced on that.

Im not sure that it will be so easy in football.

BUT the access to elite nutritionists, physical trainers and preparation will be available at Sporting that just wouldn't be there at Championship sides. And what I will say is that legal performance enhances will very much be on the menu.

With Gyokeres himself, it would probably be best to look at the rest of the squads 2 year improvements under Amorim. Guys like Trincao who also failed at Barca and Wolves, Marcus Edwards who was a .5 player previously, etc.

Compare their developments on the pitch as well as physically under Amorim to see if Gyokeres is an anomaly or the norm of improvement under a world class upcoming coach and setup.

 

[Co0ter]

It seems like a lot of people here haven't actually watched his games and only highlights. Which is fine, I don't have unlimited time to catch every game of every linked player either. But the way some people express their opinions with such certainty when clearly not watching this player, and many others, is a bit bananas. Settle down.

The guy was already playing great last season, and is great this season too. If you watch the games he's got good link up and decent with his back to goal too, ontop of being quick for his size and a pretty sharp finisher.

Some strikers mature late, same for every position. Liga is definitely weaker and that should be of concern of course, especially given his team is much better than most teams in the league but so is Barca and Madrid in La Liga. People making wild statements about what he is or isn't good at is yikes though.

 

[Joan]

Going in the summer and not in our price range with Lewa still around. He’s not coming. We’ll see if he’s a fraud in the PL soon enough.

 

[Co0ter]

Going in the summer and not in our price range with Lewa still around. He’s not coming. We’ll see if he’s a fraud in the PL soon enough.

That is likely where he is going. The Man City links don't make sense though.

Arsenal makes the most sense, since Havertz should of never been bought to play CF in the first place. Can't bet against Chelsea either.

 

[Ter Stature]

It seems like a lot of people here haven't actually watched his games and only highlights. Which is fine, I don't have unlimited time to catch every game of every linked player either. But the way some people express their opinions with such certainty when clearly not watching this player, and many others, is a bit bananas. Settle down.

The guy was already playing great last season, and is great this season too. If you watch the games he's got good link up and decent with his back to goal too, ontop of being quick for his size and a pretty sharp finisher.

Some strikers mature late, same for every position. Liga is definitely weaker and that should be of concern of course, especially given his team is much better than most teams in the league but so is Barca and Madrid in La Liga. People making wild statements about what he is or isn't good at is yikes though.

It seems to be Brazilians getting mad that even some "flop" player is stealing "their" limelight right now.
If he misses 3 sitters against City, then Portugal is his limit. But this hate is just so pathetic.

 

[BJJ]

I'd rather take a punt on David or Marmoush. If we go in 100 million on him I'd be truly astounded.
It's more likely we go with Haaland since he's the bigger name. Also our current style of play would suit Haaland.

 

[draconifire]

The swap deal that Barça is reportedly 'cooking up' to make the signing of Viktor Gyökeres cheaper

Bossman on the job.
If he achieves this, I will be the illegal alien voting for him.