[Albion] Did we try to get Viktor Gyokeres back?

[JetsetJimbo]

I think there absolutely was something in the Nunez interest but there certainly was in the Luis Diaz interest! Both of them were probably well advised to stay in Portugal and bide their time.

Yeah, I mean I think we were probably interested, I just don't think the interest was reciprocated even a tiny bit.

As I recall, the reports linking us to Nunez happened just before he moved to Benfica from Almeira (in Spain, not sure if I'm spelling the club name right). So it wasn't a case of staying in Portugal, but rather choosing Portugal over us for the next stage of his career.

I'm sceptical about the whole story, but if that's true, I honestly think he made the wrong decision. That's not just my Brighton blinkers preventing me seeing the bigger picture (honest!). I think Portugal has proven to be an imperfect finishing school for Prem-bound strikers, with Nunez as Exhibit A. Had he come to us instead of Benfica, we would have turned him into the player Liverpool thought he was when they paid all that dosh for him.

 

[Bakero]

There's no guarantee Victor G would have developed in the same way for us. He's obviously a bit of a late bloomer; didn't do anything of note until he was 23. We couldn't keep loaning him out ad infinitum.

Will be interesting to see if he can do it in a top league. If he can, we'll certainly be feeling he's one that got away.

 

[Betfair Bozo]

The club's tweet confirming the sale of Gyokeres to Coventry attracted 22 replies. I know we weren't massive then but that doesn't really suggest that very many supporters saw it as a huge mistake by the club. (I realise that not everyone is on Twitter/X...)

 

[Dibdab]

Potter never really gave him a chance to come through for us, and unfortunately Aaron Connolly jumped above him in the pecking order after his Spurs performance and got a shotgun contract that we all lived to regret.

I cant believe people site one or two performances from Viktor as reason to bin him off. We of all clubs should have seen now that kids need time and chances to develop. I think half the problem was that Gykores was relatively low profile as a signing whereas the like of MacAllister had more fanfare which meant we stuck by him longer.

 

[schmunk]

The points about the standards of the Portugeuse league are interesting. I must admit I know very little about it, outside of the names of their 4-5 most famous clubs.

But I note that another "one who got away"* for us with experience in Portugal is Darwin Nunez. And while I like him a lot as a Liverpool player, he's not the free-scoring menace he was at Benfica.

And then you look at how many goals players like Undav and Kane are scoring in Germany. Sure, they're natural goalscorers, but their returns are far in excess of anything they could dream of in the Premier League.

What I'm getting at is that the Premier League seems to be a uniquely tough environment for strikers compared with other top leagues. I think we should try and bear that in mind when both criticising our players and praising those elsewhere.

*(And yeah, I also don't think there was ever anything in this, but it's a nice little story)

Nunez is a good comparison:

He scored 26 goals in 2,032 minutes in Liga Portugal 2021/22 - a goal every 78 minutes, compared to Gyokeres' 29 goals in 2,915 minutes in LP 2023/24 - a goal every 100 minutes.

Following his move to the PL, Nunez scored:

9 goals (from 11.6 xG) in 1,700 minutes in PL 2022/23
11 goals (from 16 xG) in 2,045 minutes in PL 2023/24

and (despite those fairly healthy numbers) is considered a relative failure by many.

It's also worth noting that Gyokeres is now 26 - a year older than Nunez. There's absolutely no guarantee he would flourish in the PL.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

The points about the standards of the Portugeuse league are interesting. I must admit I know very little about it, outside of the names of their 4-5 most famous clubs.

But I note that another "one who got away"* for us with experience in Portugal is Darwin Nunez. And while I like him a lot as a Liverpool player, he's not the free-scoring menace he was at Benfica.

And then you look at how many goals players like Undav and Kane are scoring in Germany. Sure, they're natural goalscorers, but their returns are far in excess of anything they could dream of in the Premier League.

What I'm getting at is that the Premier League seems to be a uniquely tough environment for strikers compared with other top leagues. I think we should try and bear that in mind when both criticising our players and praising those elsewhere.

*(And yeah, I also don't think there was ever anything in this, but it's a nice little story)

I really like Nunez too, but I’m not sure the team has ever been set up for him to score with Liverpool at the same level as he did with Benfica.

In terms of the comparison to the German league, Kane’s numbers can easily be explained by him playing for the biggest side - I’d expect him to get similar numbers playing for Man City.

Undav’s minutes per goal record is almost identical for Stuttgart as it was for us…

Basically, I’m not entirely sure it’s league specific. It’s often how much the side you’re playing for sets up to allow you to score goals.

 

[beorhthelm]

keep seeing Gyokeres trend on Twitter, annoyingly. good to know he is in fact a bit average, and the league he plays in is pony.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Potter never really gave him a chance to come through for us, and unfortunately Aaron Connolly jumped above him in the pecking order after his Spurs performance and got a shotgun contract that we all lived to regret.

I cant believe people site one or two performances from Viktor as reason to bin him off. We of all clubs should have seen now that kids need time and chances to develop. I think half the problem was that Gykores was relatively low profile as a signing whereas the like of MacAllister had more fanfare which meant we stuck by him longer.

Sure there are lessons to learn, but Gyokeres played primarily on the right wing for the U21s. He had a season long loan at St Pauli, from there he went to Swansea but was bought back in January and sent out to Coventry. Coventry dithered over buying him, before taking the plunge. Take a look at his goalscoring record, before and after the permanent move to Coventry. St Pauli was decent, but little else stands out.

To suggest that this was somehow a toss up between him and Connolly is nothing more than a rewrite of history. When he was here he demonstrated some good close control, but he was neither fast, direct or noticably strong. He didn't get much first team expererience but when called upon he didn't look ready to make the step up either.

 

[Birdie Boy]

Yeah, I mean I think we were probably interested, I just don't think the interest was reciprocated even a tiny bit.

As I recall, the reports linking us to Nunez happened just before he moved to Benfica from Almeira (in Spain, not sure if I'm spelling the club name right). So it wasn't a case of staying in Portugal, but rather choosing Portugal over us for the next stage of his career.

I'm sceptical about the whole story, but if that's true, I honestly think he made the wrong decision. That's not just my Brighton blinkers preventing me seeing the bigger picture (honest!). I think Portugal has proven to be an imperfect finishing school for Prem-bound strikers, with Nunez as Exhibit A. Had he come to us instead of Benfica, we would have turned him into the player Liverpool thought he was when they paid all that dosh for him.

From what I remember, we matched Benfica's offer of £25m and it was left to the player. The player knew the coach at benfica and there was champions league football.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Yeah but can he do it in a cold and soulless nightclub on Brighton Seafront?

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

View attachment 188746

To suggest that this was somehow a toss up between him and Connolly is nothing more than a rewrite of history. When he was here he demonstrated some good close control, but he was neither fast, direct or noticably strong. He didn't get much first team expererience but when called upon he didn't look ready to make the step up either.

Agree. I saw him a few times in the u23's when him and Connolly were scoring loads of goals. Gyokeres looked like a decent handy striker / RW who might come to something. He did not look like a world star. Exactly the same with his first team appearances and as far as I can tell the same with Coventry.

Isn't the truth of this that youth development isn't linear? It goes slowly then can go in great leaps, if the player is in the right team and with the right manager. Or it may never do. It's very hard to tell

I also strongly believe strikers will develop late. It's very rare for a striker to flourish in a top league at the age 18 to 22. They have to be Rooney, Mbappe levels of obviously good, to regularly perform and score in that position at that age. And there aren't many of those.

I think the takeaway from this isn't "who do we shoot from the club for letting him go" It's "show a little patience when we are playing a young striker". If for example Ferguson or O'Mahoney who misfire, it's not necessarily that they aren't good enough. More likely it's that we have to go through the pain barrier of ordinary performances to get to what Gyokeres is producing now. And yes sometimes it will need a permanent move for them to find the right club to excel. That is another of the pitfalls of youth development.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

I saw him play a few games for us including a 0-1 home loss v Southampton in the league cup, August 2018. He really wasn't all that, I can only assume he grew into that sizeable frame of his and improved his game substantially at Coventry.

 

[Justice]

I really like Nunez too, but I’m not sure the team has ever been set up for him to score with Liverpool at the same level as he did with Benfica.

In terms of the comparison to the German league, Kane’s numbers can easily be explained by him playing for the biggest side - I’d expect him to get similar numbers playing for Man City.

Undav’s minutes per goal record is almost identical for Stuttgart as it was for us…

Basically, I’m not entirely sure it’s league specific. It’s often how much the side you’re playing for sets up to allow you to score goals.

Liverpool especially under Klopp didn’t create enough chances for Nunez?
He missed most of them and got benched. The Liverpool fans have nicked named him Banana boots.

 

[Han Solo]

keep seeing Gyokeres trend on Twitter, annoyingly. good to know he is in fact a bit average, and the league he plays in is pony.

I'm struggling to see how that is a "fact". He is a starting player in a team that would very likely beat us most games.
Good player, convinced he'll do well in PL or similar in the future.

 

[Bakero]

I'm struggling to see how that is a "fact". He is a starting player in a team that would very likely beat us most games.
Good player, convinced he'll do well in PL or similar in the future.

I'd wager that the laughing emoji is a sign that @beorhthelm isn't 100% it's a fact

 

[Han Solo]

I'd wager that the laughing emoji is a sign that @beorhthelm isn't 100% it's a fact

Could be right about that

 

[Withdean South Stand]

Liverpool especially under Klopp didn’t create enough chances for Nunez?
He missed most of them and got benched. The Liverpool fans have nicked named him Banana boots.

But then Newcastle away at the start of last season happened to showcase that he can be an excellent finisher. Two brilliant goals on the break, but that feels like his strength as opposed to being in a team with slower build up. He's a merchant of chaos who thrives on ad-hoc service rather than being constantly involved. He would actually better suit Man United than Liverpool and I'm sure Liverpool would be willing to sell for £100m next summer.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Liverpool especially under Klopp didn’t create enough chances for Nunez?
He missed most of them and got benched. The Liverpool fans have nicked named him Banana boots.

You think playing as a left winger for a substantial amount of his time means he’s going to get the same quantity and quality of chances he’d get as the main CF at Benfica?

Let’s remember, he’s only ever had one properly prolific season in his career, and that was when the team was built around him. It certainly hasn’t been at Liverpool.

 

[Bob!]

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