Erling Haaland found himself in an unusual situation when Manchester City took the field against Sporting on Tuesday night. For once, the City striker was not to be the top-scoring Scandinavian player on the pitch.

That title instead belonged to the mighty figure of Viktor Gyokeres, the Swedish forward who has spent the past 16 months demolishing defences with even more brutality and relish than Haaland.

So far this season, Haaland has scored 14 goals in 15 games. Gyokeres is scorching ahead of him, with 23 goals in 15 games. There have been only two occasions this campaign in which the 26-year-old has taken to the field of play and not found the net.

That number looked to be increasing to three when Gyokeres fluffed his lines in the eighth minute against City. Through on goal, the Swede opted for a flashy finish, but only succeeded in chipping the ball into the waiting hands of City goalkeeper Ederson.

But just half an hour later, Gyokeres provided the lethal moment to show that his initial miss was merely a blip in what is proving a hugely successful season already.

There was more to follow, too. In the 47th minute, he scored again, this time from the penalty spot.

In the 80th minute, he did it again. An extraordinary hat-trick.

All of which is remarkable enough, before one even considers that Gyokeres was playing in the Championship as recently as 2023. That bloke who was enjoying an impressive season at Coventry City a couple of years ago? It turns out he is one of the deadliest forwards in the European game.

Striker struggled for game time in England

The Gyokeres story is a fascinating one, not least because his emergence as an elite-level forward was so unexpected. This was a player with obvious talent and physicality, but he was certainly not regarded as a world-beater in waiting. On loan at Swansea City a few years ago, he scored a total of zero goals in 11 league games.

It says plenty about the unexpected nature of his rise that it was Brighton who brought Gyokeres to England, and Brighton who then let him go for a reported fee of around £1 million. Brighton are regarded as perhaps the Premier League’s foremost recruitment experts, regularly spotting talent and then developing it, but with Gyokeres they evidently did not see his potential.

Gyokeres was 19 when Brighton agreed signed him from Swedish side IF Brommapojkarna. He never played for the club in the Premier League, instead being sent on loan moves to St Pauli, Swansea and Coventry.

Could anyone at the club have predicted that he would ultimately reach these heights? “Without being disrespectful, I wouldn’t say so,” says Glenn Murray, who was Brighton’s established striker when Gyokeres arrived at the club. “Obviously people thought he could improve, without a doubt. There was potential there. But to this level? I don’t think so.”

‘He had all the attributes you want’

Perhaps the only indication of what might have been possible with Gyokeres was his body. In those early days at Brighton, and then Swansea, he did not show the required technical and tactical ability, but he always had the physicality. At 6ft 2in tall, he is powerful and fast. This can be seen in many of his goals for Sporting, with Gyokeres often obliterating opposition defenders by simply powering past them.

“He always had good attributes,” says Murray. “He was a big, strong athlete. He was always robust, which impressed me. He would ride challenges.”

Crucially, Gyokeres also had a genuine desire to improve. “A lovely person,” says Murray. “He had a really good attitude. He was humble, willing to learn, willing to listen and hard-working. He had all the attributes you want.”

The summer of 2021, when Coventry signed Gyokeres from Brighton on a permanent basis, is regarded by some as the pivotal moment in the Swede’s career. He arrived at the club in immaculate condition and hit a hot streak in the first few weeks of the campaign, scoring nine goals in the first 11 games of the Championship season.

The following year, he was even more consistent. As Coventry reached the play-off final (losing to Luton Town) Gyokeres scored 21 league goals. When they failed to secure promotion, it was inevitable that Gyokeres would leave. Everton are believed to have been among the Premier League clubs who showed interest, but it was Sporting – a giant of the Portuguese game – who moved the most decisively, paying around £20 million.

Influence of Amorim

What happened next is testament to the coaching ability of Ruben Amorim, the soon-to-be Manchester United manager, and also the striker’s own determination to improve. Last season, his first in Portugal, he plundered a ludicrous 43 goals and registered 15 assists.

“Finding your place in the game, and finding a home like he has at Sporting, it is such a special thing for a striker,” says Murray. “They obviously believe in him and have confidence in him. He can feel that he is assured of his place. It just goes to show, as a striker, when you are believed in, and when you are played for, what can be accomplished.”

The Gyokeres of Sporting is capable of scoring all manner of goals. Penalties, headers, tap-ins, volleys, screamers, free-kicks. He can run in behind or hold the ball up. He can dribble past an opponent, or throw them to the ground. And as witnessed against City, he can ably finish one-on-ones.

His familiar goal celebration could well be seen in the Premier League in the not-too-distant future. Placing both hands across the lower half of his face, Gyokeres revealed earlier this year it is a gesture in recognition of Bane, the DC Comics villain from the Batman films. “Nobody cared until I put on the mask”, Gyokeres posted, repeating the famous quote spoken by Tom Hardy’s character in The Dark Knight Rises blockbuster.

The release clause in Gyokeres’s contract is believed to stand at around £84 million. It is a figure that proved too steep for Europe’s biggest clubs last summer, with some perhaps having concerns about the standard of the Portuguese league.

But Gyokeres is evidently not slowing down, and this season he is impressing in the Champions League, too. Against City on Tuesday, he seized another chance to demonstrate his value — and showed English football how much he has grown since his time on these shores.