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Why Arsenal target Gyokeres won’t break Lionel Messi’s record

By on November 20, 2024

Viktor Gyokeres Sporting Lisbon

Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyökeres has been the talk of Europe this season. The talented striker has been making the headlines with his amazing performances and stats in front of goal since the start of the 2024/25 season. The Swedish striker is set to become the most wanted in the upcoming summer with Arsenal and Manchester United leading the race for his signature.

Through the November International break, Gyökeres was exceptional for Sweden. He showed why he is valued at £63 million ($81m) in his nation’s UEFA Nations League game against Azerbaijan. The 26-year-old scored four goals in Sweden’s 6-0 victory to reclaim their top spot in League C Group 1 (three points ahead of second-place Slovakia).

This performance raised his tally to a remarkable 32 goals across club and international competitions in the 2024/25 season. He is the only player to reach such a feet in just 24 games this season. Currently, the Sporting CP striker is the UEFA Nations League top scorer with nine goals and also sits on top of the assist chart with four assists after just six games. No other player has shown such form in goals and assists since the competition’s introduction. In the Champions League, he shares the top spot on the goalscoring chart with Bayern’s Harry Kane, Barcelona’s Lewandowski, and Raphinha. Each shares five goals in four League phase games.

In the Portuguese league, he dominates the goal-scoring charts with sixteen goals from 11 games. A number that has broken multiple records of generational talents that have featured in Liga Portugal over the years and also doubles the tally of Porto’s Samu Aghehowa in second place (8 goals). These impressive stats include his combined four assists in the domestic League, Taça de Portugal, and Supertaça.

Gyökeres now has an impressive 58 goals in just 54 appearances for Sporting CP and Sweden in 2024, but does this fit come close to breaking Lionel Messi’s legendary achievements from the 2011/12 season and the 2012 calendar year? The answer seems almost impossible following the stats, competition, and era in which both players are featured.

In the 2011/12 season, Lionel Messi scored a jaw-dropping 82 goals in 69 matches across all competitions for club and country. It gets even crazier in the whole 2012 calendar year when his goalscoring stats became an unrivaled 91 goals in 69 games for Barcelona and Argentina. It’s never been done before, and the 2022 World Cup winner’s record feels almost untouchable, given the stats he put up per game and the system and network of talents that helped him reach this peak.

For Gyökeres to replicate Messi’s calendar year record, he would need to score 32 goals in Sporting Lisbon’s remaining nine games in 2024 across all competitions. Although it might sound impossible, maintaining a four-goal-per-game average like he did against Azerbaijan could make this achievement a possibility. The 26-year-old striker must score 51 more times in potentially 46 remaining games this season to beat the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner season record in 2012.

Achieving this, however, would be based on multiple factors playing well for the talented striker. Firstly, it would require Sporting CP to reach the finals of all cup competitions they’re involved in this season. This includes the UEFA Champions League, where they currently sit in second place in the League phase after four games. Sporting Lisbon is a regular qualifier in European competitions, but the club doesn’t have a strong history of success on Europe’s big stage. They have only claimed victory in the UEFA Cup’s Winners’ Cup in 1964 by defeating MTK Budapest in the finals. Their closest height in the UEFA Champions was reaching the quarterfinals in the 1982/83 campaign where they were edged out by eventual finalist Real Sociedad. The last time they reached a European final was in the UEFA Europa Cup in 2005, losing 3-1 to CSKA Moscow in their home stadium Estádio José Alvalade. It would be tough to decide their path in the 2024/25 season early. Seeing their impressive start and potential so far, the newly introduced League phase favors them. However, with a change in managerial roles, it’s yet to see what the future holds for the club in the UCL, especially with the upcoming games with Arsenal, Club Brugge, RB Leipzig, and Bologna. 

Again, Sporting needs to finish outside the top eight in the Champions League group stage to play an additional two-legged playoff round. If their strong dominance in the UCL continues, the Swedish striker will lose these two games for an opportunity to make the needed impact to reach Messi’s record.

At these games, the Swedish striker would mostly be the most marked player on the field following his recent successes. This means he will be exposed to more markings and potential injury threats that could slow his progress in scoring in each and every match. Even Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland had bad days in their prime seasons and failed to break Messi’s incredible record.

Ruben Amorim’s departure from the club adds to the twist. The Portuguese head coach left his role as head coach of Sporting Lisbon to join Manchester United following Erik Ten Hag’s sacking. This new change in managerial role and tactics could hinder Gyökeres’ form in front of goal. João Pereira has been appointed as the new head coach of Sporting Lisbon, but even without handling his first game, it’s certain the team would have to adjust to his system and style of play to replicate their previous success.

Gyökeres’ current form this season has been spectacular, but breaking Messi’s records would demand nothing short of a football miracle. Barcelona, in the 2012 calendar year, was a star-subbed team with world-class quality that helped the Argentinian captain reach such heights. While Sporting Lisbon is rich on talent, they still aren’t the best in Europe. The intense and increasing competition in the coming matches may or may not affect the performances and goal scoring tally of the Swedish stricker.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are doubling down on their reach to secure the high-quality start to help them in their pursuit of silverware in the Premier League. Having previously made offers in the summer before Gyökeres’ contract extension, the North London club will be doubling their efforts now following Ruben Amorim’s new role as manager of Manchester United. The Red Devils who haven’t gotten a consistent center forward will look to lure the 26-year-old away from his Sporting CP with his previous coach Amorim in charge.

Gyökeres, who started his career in his home country and featured in multiple national youth-level tournaments, went on loan to various clubs, including St. Pauli, Swansea City, and Coventry City, before joining the latter permanently in 2021. Sporting CP signed him in 2023 for a club-record transfer worth €20 million and will be looking to cash in big when the striker decides to leave the Portuguese club next summer.

While Arsenal is keen on getting the Swedish striker, they have not discarded the idea of signing Nigerian and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen who is currently having an impressive loan spell with Galatasaray.

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