Viktor Gyökeres (Stockholm, 1998) is one of the players of the moment. A footballer who has found his best version at Sporting de Portugal with the former coach of the Portuguese team, Rubén Amorim. A coach who hit the key to get his best performance and that has led him to win the Guldbollen, known as the Swedish Ballon d’Or. Reason why he has attended to the Sport Bladet media that carries out this award.
My goal? Play for one of the best teams in Europe
Viktor Gyökeres, player of Sporting of Portugal
The Guldbollen is not an easy prize to win. From 2005 to 2017 it was dominated almost completely by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, except in 2006 when Fredrik Ljungberg won it, but that does not mean that the task is easy with competitors like Dejan Kuluusevski, Alexsander Isak or Isak Hien. “There are many players of the highest level who play for Sweden. This feels like a receipt that you have maintained a very high level,” says the footballer.
Viktor Gyökeres, Sporting de Portugal player, posing with the Guldbollen in 2024Sport Bladet
Objective… Premier League?
And it is much more difficult for him to win this award for playing in the Primeira Liga, despite it being a powerful European league, and not doing so in others like the Premier League. And he himself values it: “I don’t play in the Premier League like others do, but I have done the best I can where I am, I also showed it in Europe, in the Champions League, and with the national team. So it’s not ‘only’ in Portugal”.
A future that does not rule out going outside of Portugal, although he has not yet gotten wet: “We’ll see. There are many rumors circulating, but we are in the middle of the season, there are many months left. We will see when the time comes what will happen.” A few words that change when asked where he sees himself playing at 30 years old and it is clear: “Playing for one of the best teams in Europe. That is the goal.”
I could have come to Sporting Lisbon when I was 19 or 20 years old, but perhaps I would not have performed at the same level as now
Viktor Gyökeres, player of Sporting of Portugal
An unusual race
A player who has gone through many phases in a career that has not always been like it is now: “Sometimes it has been difficult. I have played many seasons in the Championship. It is a very good and tough league, but it is clear that I have always wanted to play in some major league.” And he seems to be clear that his path to reaching that goal can cost him more than other footballers and even more knowing that he is already 26 years old: “For me it doesn’t matter, it can take as long as necessary. When I arrived here I felt prepared “I could have come here when I was 19 or 20, but maybe I wouldn’t have performed at the same level as now,” he says confidently.
Perhaps that is why he still finds it difficult to believe that he is sometimes compared to stars like Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Robert Lewandowski: “It is difficult to understand that sometimes it is real, but that stimulates me and I want to continue playing. You can always do better, score more goals,” Gyökeres concludes the interview.
