Viktor Gyökeres has scored three goals and contributed an assist in five games for Sporting so far this season.
It follows on from last season when the striker scored 22 goals and added 12 assists in 50 matches for Coventry City. With him wanting a move in the summer window, the obvious option was the Premier League.
Fulham came ‘closest’ to signing him, report A Bola, and it’s a surprise to many in Portuguese football that the 25-year-old isn’t currently in the top tier of English football.
Although Fulham tried their best, and it appears Marco Silva truly wanted to beat his former club to the transfer, current Sporting manager Ruben Amorim has explained why the London club and others stood little chance.
A Bola quote him as saying: “Not everyone was sleeping, he really wanted to come to Sporting. We saw the proposals, [Hugo] Viana showed me the proposals that the player had. He understood the project, he is a very ambitious player and the clubs he had were probably not the ones he wants to go to in the Premier League.”
Sporting are currently second in Liga Portugal, expected to be in a battle for the title, and face Sturm Graz this week in the Europa League.
Fulham can only kick themselves over one that got away.
