Viktor Gyökeres has gone from Championship flop to one of Europe’s most in-form strikers in the space of just three years.

The Sporting CP forward has outscored Manchester City’s Erling Haaland this season to continue a devastating run of form that makes a big-money transfer either in January or next summer a near certainty, with several Premier League clubs among those casting admiring glances at the 26-year-old. It is all a far cry from January 2021, when a dismal loan spell at Swansea City was cut short for a striker on Brighton & Hove Albion’s books not yet considered ready for first-team action. Even those who kept faith are surprised at Gyökeres’ stunning transformation.

Chris Badlan, now head of recruitment at Scottish club Aberdeen, held a similar position at Coventry City when Gyökeres arrived.

“I always thought Viktor was a Premier League striker, but did I see him being compared to Haaland? No, and not many people would,” Bad...