Liverpool had scouts present at a recent fixture in Portugal to keep an eye on one player who’s been in red-hot form this season.
If you were to engage in Dota 2 gambling involving a Sporting Lisbon match, you’d probably wager a few quid on Viktor Gyokeres getting among the goals, with the Swedish striker netting 20 times in 23 games already in the current campaign.
According to HITC, the Reds dispatched a delegation to the Estadio Jose Alvalade last weekend to watch Ruben Amorim’s side cruise to a 5-1 win over Estoril and preserve their place at the top of the Primeira Liga.
Newcastle also sent scouts to the Portuguese capital to keep an eye on the former Brighton and Coventry striker, who’s believed to have a €52m (£45m) release clause in his contract.
How did Liverpool target Gyokeres perform last weekend?
Considering his goalscoring form this season, and that Sporting put five goals past their opponents, it was quite a surprise that the 25-year-old didn’t plunder any of that quintet.
However, he was far from ineffective against mid-table Estoril, as he laid claim to a hat-trick of assists, setting up both Marcus Edwards strikes as well as the late effort from Francisco Trincao.
Gyokeres had four shots of his own on the night and completed a remarkable tally of six key passes, while he also proved to be a handful out of possession by winning seven of his 13 duels (Sofascore).
The Swede has now registered at least one goal contribution in nine of his last 11 league games, while he reached the 20-goal mark for the season a few days later with a brace in Sporting’s 4-0 cup win over Tondela.
Could Gyokeres be an ideal transfer target for Liverpool?
The 25-year-old’s phenomenal goal tally instantly marks him out as a true predator inside the penalty area, while he already has plenty of experience in English football from his time with Brighton, Coventry and Swansea.
He netted 43 goals in 116 games with the Sky Blues, who he helped to the Championship play-off final last season, although he never made a Premier League appearance during his time with the Seagulls.
Just as Liverpool signed Darwin Nunez off the back of a hugely prolific season in Portugal two years ago, it’s not unthinkable that they could do likewise with Gyokeres to give Jurgen Klopp’s squad another centre-forward alternative to the Uruguayan.
Whether the Anfield hierarchy will part with £45m for an addition to an already stellar forward line is open to question, but the Sweden international could hardly be doing much more to put his name in the shop window.
Even if the Reds’ scouting team didn’t see him score against Estoril, he surely would’ve shown enough in his overall performance so that the subsequent report on him would’ve contained plenty of positives.