Viktor Gyokeres: Viktor Gyökeres striker ‘wants to move away’, says Swedish journalist
Coventry City look resigned to losing Viktor Gyökeres this summer following the Sky Blues star striker’s confession in an interview with Swedish TV that he “wants to move away.”.
City survived speculation that the 25-year-old Swedish international would leave in January, and he stayed to contribute to Coventry’s play-off push.
However, the Sky Blues’ failure to return to the Premier League now seems crucial.
Gyokeres, 25, has only 12 months left on his three-year City contract.
BBC CWR spoke with Swedish TV4’s Olof Lundh, one of several journalists who interviewed Gyokeres in his native Sweden.
“He told us that when they missed out on the Premier League with Coventry after two really good seasons, he wanted to move away,” Lundh told the BBC.
“He told us he could have left the club in January but the club wanted him to stay the full season, and he did.”
Listen to the BBC CWR Sky Blues fancast.
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Gyokeres joined the Sky Blues from Brighton in January 2021, initially on loan for the first half.
Gyokeres was the Championship’s most productive source of goals in the 2022–23 season, with 12 assists to add to his 21 strikes, but he failed to score in City’s three play-off games as they were beaten by Luton in the final on penalties at Wembley.
It has now been reported in Portugal that Sporting Lisbon have made an offer of £12.9 million (15 million euros) for Gyokeres, which is short of Coventry’s £20 million valuation.
But Lundh adds: “He feels that the reports in the Portuguese media that they had a price tag of £20 million for him might be a little bit steep when he only has a year left.”
Gyokeres, who has scored three times in 13 appearances for his country, sees a move higher up as key to his international ambitions.
“The Swedish coach has a lot of respect for the championship, but Viktor has tough competition with Alexander Isak and Dejan Kulusevski at Tottenham.
“He wants to move up. The question is, should he go to Sporting, where he can play in Europe, or should he go to a club in the Premier League that will fight for survival like Everton? It’s a tough decision for him.”
