Coventry City have been laughing to the bank ever since Viktor Gyokeres decision | OneFootball

The Sky Blues will land few signings as good as Gyokeres

From start to finish, it’s difficult to find fault with Viktor Gyokeres’ time at Coventry City from the club’s perspective.

Once the deal to bring the Sweden international to the CBS Arena was made permanent in the summer of 2021 – for a bargain price – the Sweden international banged in goals left, right and centre for the Sky Blues.

But he kept more than just the football department of the club happy, attracting a bumper fee when he moved to Sporting CP just two years later, which will have delighted those with their hands on the purse strings.

It was an incredible move by the decision-makers at Coventry, and there may still be more positives to come.

Coventry City rewarded handsomely for faith put in Viktor Gyokeres

Gyokeres had been in the academy system of Brighton & Hove Albion and was trying to find his feet in the senior game.

A stint with then-second-tier German outfit St Pauli had been a success – seven goals and four assists in 26 league games – but the next loan to Swansea City rendered just one FA Cup goal in 12 outings in all competitions.

The Sky Blues were undeterred, bringing him in on loan at the CBS the same season, but the early signs for them weren’t great either, he netted just three times in 19 league appearances.

In hindsight, that relatively dry patch in Gyokeres’ career may have played right into Coventry’s hands because they managed to land the striker that summer for just £1 million.

Gyokeres would repay Coventry’s persistent faith, and then some.

Viktor Gyokeres caught fire at Coventry City

Seemingly from nowhere, given his recent track record in the English senior game, Gyokeres exploded once he had his feet permanently under the table at Coventry.

Notching in the first game of the 2021/22 Championship season against Nottingham Forest, the forward never looked back.

He registered 17 goals and five assists in the league that season, putting him in the top 10 forwards in terms of scoring that year.

He wasn’t done there, upping his contributions to 21 goals and 12 assists in the Championship in 2022/23, including two assists in the play-offs.

Back-to-back seasons like that, in a league as strong as the Championship, will not stay under the radar for long, and Portuguese outfit Sporting CP were first on the scene.

Sporting CP ensured Viktor Gyokeres deal did wonders for Coventry City's bank balance

With add-ons – which the Swede has surely hit, as he arguably went on to even greater success with Sporting – the Portuguese giants paid up to €24 million (£20 million)to the Sky Blues for the striker.

It means that Coventry not only got all Gyokeres’ goals for those two seasons, but they also received a profit of €23 million for the pleasure.

And it may not end there, either.

Coventry were smart enough to insert a 15 per cent sell-on clause into the terms of the sale to Sporting.

Given he’s become even more prolific on the continent, including in the Champions League, it’s likely that there’s still more money to come for Coventry. Indeed, Gyokeres has emerged as one of the very best centre-forwards on the planet since moving to Portugal and has already scored more than 80 goals in under 100 appearances.

His form in Lisbon has thrust him to the forefront of global transfer speculation, and Gyokeres is reportedly intent on leaving this summer amid interest from the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain - who could all activate the Swede's £85 million release clause.