Will Gyokeres flourish in a tougher league?published at 12:54 British Summer Time
12:54 BST
Neil Johnston
BBC Sport
Take a glance at the list of leading goalscorers in Europe’s top leagues in 2024-25 and the usual suspects are there.
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe managed 31 in his debut season in La Liga, Mohamed Salah contributed 29 goals as Liverpool claimed the Premier League crown, while Robert Lewandowski finished on 27 during Barcelona’s title-winning season – one more than England captain Harry Kane’s tally for Bayern Munich.
Viktor Gyokeres, who is 6ft 2in (1.89m), managed 39, though the Primeira Liga is not considered one of the top five leagues in Europe.
The question is whether he can be quite so prolific in a stronger league. He has just turned 27 and is still to play a single game in Europe’s top five divisions – hence Ferdinand’s comments.
It is perhaps worth noting 35% of his goals in 2024-25 came from penalties, as he successfully converted all 19 of his spot-kicks.
There’s little denying that Gyokeres is a goalscorer, but will he be such a success against elite-level defences?