He grew up in the myth of Ibra, and the other night he exchanged jerseys and compliments with Rafa Leao at the end of Portugal-Sweden. Two clues don't make proof, but the third, noted in the notebooks of Milan's executives for several months, does: Viktor Gyokeres has what it takes to become the next Rossoneri center forward, and his name is gaining ground in the Rossoneri favour.
Gyokeres is advancing simply because he does what Milan is looking for in the profile of the future number 9 who will have to inherit Giroud's legacy: he scores. In every way and above all, a lot: this season, his first at Sporting Lisbon, he's already at 36 goals in 39 games, which means a goal every 89 minutes, spread across the league, Europa League, and domestic cups. His goals are dragging the Green and Whites to the top of the Portuguese league and are repaying the club for the investment made this summer: 20 million euros plus 4 million euros in bonuses, the most expensive ever in Sporting's history. A deal even for those who sold him, Coventry, which plays in the English Championship and hadn't cashed in so much since Robby Keane's transfer to Inter (31 million euros in 2000). Milan was following Gyokeres even before he signed for Sporting, they had sounded him out but didn't go further. Reading it in hindsight, that missed move would seem like a regret: Sporting, famous for its ultra-million-dollar release clauses, has set one at 100 million euros on the Swedish player's contract, but in Lisbon, they know that if a big club comes forward, the player's will would carry weight. The price would drop but a significant amount would still be needed, let's say at least 50 million euros. More or less the starting point for other strikers that the Devil likes, from Zirkzee of Bologna to Sesko of Leipzig, to Gimenez of Feyenoord (only for David, declining at Lille and with his contract expiring in a year, a discount could be negotiated).
Gyokeres' curriculum, however, justified further investigation: before exploding at Coventry (40 goals in the last two seasons), the center-forward born in Stockholm had struggled between Brighton, St. Pauli, and Swansea, never setting foot in the Premier League (or even the Bundesliga: the German experience had taken place in the second division). Today, the picture has changed and justifies the Rossoneri's renewed interest, as well as the interest of big English clubs, with Arsenal and Chelsea at the forefront. The risk for Milan is to find itself enrolled in an auction where it would become almost impossible to keep up with the competition: within the Rossoneri camp, they know they have to invest the bulk of the transfer budget on the center forward, but if Gyokeres' price were to shoot up, approaching the value of the clause, the game could end early.
Z FACTOR—However, Milan can play a card that others don't have: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The name of the former champion, now a super consultant for the Rossoneri ownership and Gerry Cardinale's voice in the club, often bounces in Gyokeres' words. The Sporting striker has always considered him an idol. The paths of the two crossed in the national team, and Gyokeres in a sense entered Zlatan's history: together, exactly a year ago, they played a segment of Sweden-Belgium, Ibra's last professional match. In terms of characteristics, he and Gyokeres were very different: technical, physically dominant, and elegant the first, not beautiful to watch but very fast and essential the second. Like Ibra, however, Gyokeres is lethal in the box: Zlatan follows the growth of his compatriot closely and can push him towards Milan.
source: Gazzetta
