Gyokeres’ former team-mates and coaches keep in mind a younger boy who cried when he misplaced. They speak about a “cussed child” who was “wild, actually aggressive” and would sometimes come to blows with team-mates.
“I keep in mind the older gamers had been typically telling him to relax a bit bit, as a result of he was all the time going all-in,” Magni Fannberg, who handed Gyokeres his first-team debut for Swedish membership Brommapojkarna in 2015, instructed the Occasions., exterior
There are tales about Gyokeres’ single-mindedness, focus and drive.
Gustav Sandberg Magnusson, who performed with Gyokeres at Brommapojkarna, provides: “There was one coaching session I used to be screaming at him, ‘Viktor, move the ball. Cross’. And he did not [look at] me. I used to be so pissed off.”
David Eklund, academy scout on the membership, tells BBC Sport: “He was by no means a famous person like Dejan Kulusevski [another Brommapojkarna youth product]. However he scored targets. That is it.
“He had a robust mentality however he is a very nice man. He all the time labored laborious and had the concept of being a high participant, coaching every single day. He wished to show individuals fallacious.”
Dennis Lawrence, who was a part of Mark Robins’ backroom employees at Coventry when Gyokeres was there, says: “I needed to snicker the opposite day after I noticed he scored a free-kick for Sporting. At Coventry, he would strive free-kicks [in training] and I’d say, ‘No, you are not on free-kicks, Viktor’.
“However his mentality is, ‘no, I do know I can do that.’
“And he is scoring these unimaginable free-kicks now. He is acquired that means to deal with and obtain something he needs.”
It began on the gravel pitches of his native grassroots membership in Stockholm, IFK Aspudden-Tellus. Gyokeres was 5 on the time and he credit his father, Stefan, in his growth.
“Making that journey collectively helped me so much. We might share good and unhealthy moments,” says Gyokeres, who has since gone on to make a giant impression – on and off the pitch.
Not too long ago he was the duvet star for Vogue Scandinavia, who described the participant as Swedish soccer’s “delight and glory”.
