At this point in time, it would be easier to list the big clubs who former Brighton striker Viktor Gyokeres has not been listed to.
The Swedish forward is one of the most in-demand players in Europe according to the rumour mill. Latest to show an interest are Manchester City, with the great Abu Dhabi Sportswashing project viewing Gyokeres as the perfect replacement for Erling Haaland should the Norwegian depart sometime soon for Real Madrid.
Not bad for a bloke who played just eight times for the Albion before being sold to Coventry City for £1 million in the summer of 2021.
There has been no looking back for Gyokeres since he became a Sky Blue. 38 goals across two full Championship seasons saw Sporting Portugal pay £21 million to sign Gyokeres in 2023.
63 games for the Portuguese giants so far have returned an astonishing 56 goals and 19 assists. Gyokeres fired Sporting to the Portuguese title last season and has an £85 million release clause in his contract.
Whilst it seems unlikely any suitor will pay that much straight off the bat for his services, a bidding war will result in Sporting still commanding a huge fee. Especially if that bidding war ends up involving City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.
With each new club linked with Viktor Gyokeres, Brighton fans wonder how the Albion got it so wrong. What happened to the world-renowned talent identification and pathway system to allow a striker now coveted by the European Super League Elite Six to leave for relative peanuts?
The answer is nothing, really. There has been a huge amount of revisionism regarding Gyokeres and how the Albion let him slip through their grasp since he started banging in the goals for Coventry and Sporting.
Some claim Chris Hughton was at a fault for not chucking a 20-year-old Gyokeres into a Premier League relegation battle in the 2018-19 season.
Others lay the blame squarely at the door of Graham Potter. Glow Up gave Aaron Connolly opportunities in the Premier League over Gyokeres.
He was then the manager when the sale of Viktor Gyokeres from Brighton to Coventry was sanctioned. At the same time, Potter continued to persist with Connolly. Popular wisdom says Potter and the Albion backed the wrong horse.
Now, we enjoy a Potter pile on more than most over here at WAB. But in this instance, Glow Up did not really do much wrong. More is the pity.
In fact, nobody at the Amex did too much wrong. The Viktor Gyokeres elephant in the Brighton room is that there was little to suggest the player he would develop into, either during his time with the Albion or on one of the three different loans he was sent on.
Connolly always had the edge over Gyokeres at Under 21s level. Gyokeres scored 14 goals in 31 matches. Connolly’s record was a more impressive 31 in 42.
At the end of the 2018-19 campaign, Connolly was named Premier League 2 Player of the Season. Imagine the outcry if going into 2019-20, Gyokeres was promoted by Potter into the senior squad whilst the best player at Under 21s level in England from the previous campaign was packed off on loan to St Pauli.
Gyokeres scored seven times in 26 Bundesliga 2 appearances for Fabian Hurzeler’s future employers. He returned to the Amex for the start of 2020-21 and was given opportunities by Potter to prove himself in the League Cup.
A goal on full debut in a 4-0 win over Portsmouth was an encouraging start, although the identity of the other Brighton scorers is testament to the quality of opposition provided by Pompey.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Bernardo were also on target along with a raw Alexis Mac Allister, netting his first in Seagulls colours.
Gyokeres led the line again in further rounds against Preston North End and Manchester United. He struggled to make any impact in the 3-0 defeat against United and was replaced after 63 minutes.
Not long after and Gyokeres was sent to Swansea City to test himself in the Championship. This did not go particularly well.
He played just 12 times for the Swans and scored only once against League Twon Stevenage in the FA Cup. Not many Swansea fans were disappointed when Gyokeres’ season long loan was cut short after only four months.
The Jack Army must be even more mystified over how Gyokeres has become one of Europe’s most deadliest strikers than Brighton supporters.
Even his initial loan to Coventry was middling. Four goals in 21 matches hardly smacked of a player worth spending £1 million on. Let alone one who would net the Sky Blues £20 million in profit just two years later.
Coventry boss Mark Robins saw something in Gyokeres though. Before the move became permanent, Robins said of the striker: “He’s been frustrated at times but he has stuck with it and I saw something flipped in him and he then became part of the group.”
“And that’s testament to his character because he could have gone and sulked and gone under but he’s not done that.”
“I would consider signing him permanently all day because as a young striker he’s got that desire and mentality, so yeah, I’d definitely consider him for moving forward. One hundred per cent.”
Viktor Gyokeres was 23-years-old when he left Brighton permanently. He needed to play first team football. He had hardly pulled up trees in the second tier of German football or the Championship.
WAB wrote at the time of his departure: “It is a shame he did not get a chance in the Premier League, especially when you consider how many chances a player whose attitude is clearly questionable in Aaron Connolly keeps receiving.”
“If Viktor Gyokeres had played 46 times for Brighton in all competitions as Connolly has done, would he have offered a better return than Connolly’s six goals? Unfortunately, we will never find out.”
Wondering if Gyokeres might have done more than Connolly was far as disappointment amongst Albion supporters went though. There was certainly nobody predicting City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool would be on his trail three years later.
Some players are simply late developers. They fall through the net at clubs earlier in their careers and only start to flourish once they hit their mid-20s.
That is Gyokeres. Brighton will probably come to regret selling him for only £1 million to Coventry, but it was the right decision to take in the summer of 2021 for the player and the Albion.
He thrived and developed with the Sky Blues in the Championship in a way he would not have done getting random minutes here and there in the Premier League at Brighton.
An expensive mistake looking back with hindsight from 2024. But an honest one.
