Ryan Bennet, former teammate of Viktor Gyokeres in Swansea, commented on the rookie Arsenal were good at Harry Kane. A former Gyokeres coach rated the player to lead the ball like a tank. Listen to the coaches and former teammates commented on Gyokeres' capacity.
IFK Aspudden-dtlus: 2004–2014
Bjorn Thairon is the president of the Children's Club where Gyokeres starts from 5 years old to 16 years old …
“We are a lovely local club, attracting players from the surrounding area. We do not own the training ground and there is no fixed worker. Viktor's father, Mr. Stefan, is also his team coach during his time with us. The team has many good players, but Viktor is the best of them. At 16 years old, he switched to IF Brommapojkarna.
We are fortunate to receive joint training fees. FIFA has a mechanism called Clearing House to ensure that young training clubs receive compensation when the transfer player is aged 12 to 20, which is true to the time Viktor sticks with us.
We received a small amount when he moved to Brighton, and another amount when he arrived at Coventry. And now, you can get more. In fact, we have received more than 200,000 euros (equivalent to 173,000 pounds).
Brighton or Coventry did not pay directly, but the money comes from FIFA. There is a very large spreadsheet that shows how much. We receive about 1% of the transfer fee, so if the Arsenal fee paid to Viktor is as reported as the newspaper, it will be very large (about 800,000 pounds).
Previously, we used this money to invest in equipment and organize many summer camps for players. It is really amazing. Viktor has never come back since leaving, but when some of our players were summoned to the national young team, he saw which club they came from, they would come to greet.
We are all very proud of him. ”
If brommapojkarna: 2014–2017
Peter Kisfaludy was one of Viktor's young coach before he went to the first team …
“The first time I met Viktor was when he was 11 years old and we borrowed him from the Children's Club Aspuddden-dtlus to attend a tournament in Finland. After that, at the age of 16, he joined the official club.
At the age of 13, he attended a school where I trained in the morning before the official lesson. I also trained Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall there. Viktor is a late developer, but the style of scoring is still the same as now, always like a tank holding the ball. Can call you “Swedish Express Train”.
He always has the spirit of victory. Viktor has dated longtime with female player Amanda Nilden, currently playing for Spurs. They used to stay in Spain, Amanda played table tennis very well. The two played a tennis match and she won, so they didn't talk to each other for two days. Both are those who hate losing. It was great to see him from far away and still unchanged.
This year, I was in Portugal to recruit a player when there was a large -scale power outage, so the Spanish was the same, there was no electricity in both countries. The restaurant could not cook, I could not buy water because the card payment machine did not work but I did not bring cash.
I called Viktor, and he said: 'Go to my place'. I drove 30 minutes, he invited me to have lunch and even brought me 100 euros when the system was not recovered. I have no doubt that he will score a lot of goals for Arsenal. If he scored two goals, he would not be happy until he got a third goal. ”
Brighton: 2018–2021
Former coach Chris Hughton …
“When he was still in Brighton, I didn't think he was a innate goalscorer. He was not in the form of a player you thought was just one or two chances to score. But you know that he will always have a chance.
If at that time you asked me if I thought he would become a player playing for one of the top Premier League clubs, then I would have to say no, more than yes.
When he went to Coventry, it must be a club's decision when wondering if they would see he would become a regular pillar in the first team. Will the development process longer than what they are ready to wait?
I watched him play quite a lot when I was in Coventry. I have to admit that no one buys him. We all know the big clubs in the Premier League want to have the players who have been completed. But I really think that perhaps a newly promoted club from Championship or one of the teams fighting to relegate should have had him.
What he achieved is largely due to himself. Going to Coventry and really developing his play, and then even more outstanding abroad.
He is a smart guy. Perhaps because of his background, his English is very good, that has helped. He is very mature than his age. A confident person. I think he believes in his ability. If you are a number 9 to Arsenal, Liverpool or Man City, what you know for sure you will have a lot of opportunities. I don't think that will make him flinch. “
St Pauli (loan): 2019–2020
Former assistant coach Andre Trulsen …
“I had never heard of Viktor when we borrowed him from Brighton. We were a club in the German Second Division. But he came and joined St Pauli, and I was very impressed. He had very good physical strength and also knew how to use that strong point. He always yearned for progress and tried his best to have more time to play.
Before the winter holiday, he worked extremely hard to adapt to German football and our system of competition. Those efforts were paid off and he was played more in the second half of the season.
Viktor certainly contributed to us to avoid relegation, and he dedicated everything. I see his potential, but as usual in football, you are never sure that a player will be so successful.
Many times, we had to ask him to leave the training ground because he never wanted to stop improving himself. I am sure that the decision to go to Hamburg and playing for St Pauli is an important stepping stone for his next step, and I am very happy that he played well in Portugal.
Hopefully he can become a big player at Arsenal and help them conquer success. “
Swansea: October 2020 – January 2021
Former defender Ryan Bennett …
“For me, Viktor has many similarities with Harry Kane. Viktor doesn't play much for us and is not in Swansea for a long time. He is a bit slow, even though he has a good spirit and determination to succeed.
When I was in Norwich, Harry came to loan but did not play much, so I returned to Spurs. Later, when I confront Spurs and Harry in the squad, it felt like facing a completely different player.
With Viktor too, after leaving Swansea, I encountered him when he moved to Coventry. At that time he was stronger, thinking different, more drastic. Like Harry, Viktor has become a really top player.
Viktor was a kind person, but had difficulties in Swansea, he did not know how to drive, living near my house so sometimes I took him to practice. I think the condition is not favorable for him because his girlfriend was then a player and both had a different schedule. ”
Coventry: January 2021 – July 2023
Former coach Mark Robins …
“He is a wonderful guy. Funny. The players love him. Fans too. At that time, he often sang in the dressing room. After every victory, regardless of who the opponent was, the whole team sang Sweet Caroline and Viktor always contributed his voice.
He is almost a machine. All his movements are even, rhythmic, right rhythm. It was that helping him succeed in a short time and explained why he continued to advance.
When we borrowed him in January 2021, he did not play for 4–5 months. Viktor expects to play the first 10 matches, but the fact that he is not enough. He needs patience.
And that is the strong point of Vik – concentrated, motivated and very impatient. I remember having a U21 match against Charlton, he scored two beautiful goals, showing both speed and strength. I asked him after the battle: 'Is it ready?' From there he started contributing more, starting to look like a real player.
At the end of the season, you can see his growth momentum soared. I know he will be a quality contract for next season. I spent the summer to convince him to sign a long -term contract. And then he had two extremely impressive seasons. The second season, we almost promoted. That's the only way to keep him stay. Even so, we may still lose him.
Sporting is a great choice. They have been watching Viktor for a long time. I think the deal as if it was predetermined, and the decision was also made early. He has become one of the most mentioned strikers in Europe in the past 18 months and absolutely deserved for his concentration.
At Arsenal, it will be very interesting to see how he develops and what. ”
Matt Godden – Former teammate kicked with Gyokeres in Coventry:
“When he just arrived, it was in January, the team signed a contract to borrow him from Brighton and at first, he was a bit struggling. But then we bought him in the summer afterwards, because it was clear that the coach had seen something, saw the potential in him.
He returned after the summer that looked like a completely different animal. It was as if he spent the summer to plow the gym. He returned like a machine and immediately caught up. Since then, we have had two years of playing together and scored quite a lot of goals.
Later, he was very determined to take us to the Premier League with his goals, but unfortunately we lost Luton on the penalty pen. There was a great picture of me and him in the match against Luton (September 2022) at Kenilworth Road after he scored, I grabbed his neck because the emotion was too surged. We both are extremely determined after the bad draw on Norwich.
The story behind the picture was that there were many rumors spread that he and I were not in harmony, and both were removed from the starting line -up against Norwich, which was very rare.
The coach left both of us outside and I remembered my wife called me on the way back and said that 'On the internet, there is a rise on him and Vik quarreled, discord'. But the fact that Vik was sitting in the side seat in my car, I was taking him to the airport and I told my wife: 'Don't believe everything I read, because he's sitting right next to him! Nothing. '
And the match then we met Luton, when the team was in need of a positive result because of his decline. We were led 0-1 but he scored a beautiful goal after an unbelievable acceleration. I still hold the picture of my neck grabbing his neck, – it was just a pure emotional explosion.
I am playing for Charlton with some Luton players who defeated us in the Play-off final. And all of them said that Vik was the most comprehensive striker in the Championship they have ever seen or each confrontation.
Moving to Sporting is an extremely smart step for him. He did not want to go to a team in the Premier League struggling to relegation or have just released to the Championship.
If you create a chance for Vik, if you play his forte, he will create a true influence. And he did that in the Champions League, so he proved the highest level. There is no reason why he cannot succeed in the Premier League with Arsenal. ”
