Meet Rising Star Outshining Salah and Lewandowski in the European Golden Boot Race!

The 2024-25 campaign of club football has been a topsy-turvy land. The tables in all the leagues have been going up and down and the usual favourites are not leading the race. 

European football is at its peak currently and so much unexpected has happened.

Liverpool AFC, the definite winner of Premier league and is in exceptional form getting knocked out of UEFA Champions League by PSG. 

Arsenal outshines the mighty Real Madrid and Manchester City not in the Premier League title race. In short, much unexpected has happened in European football this season.

Raphinha's current form is so lethal that has poisoned the whole Real Madrid squad throughout and Raphinha is current favourite choice for the Ballon d'or. 

Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski is leading the goal scoring tally in LaLiga.

Yet after all the drama in the top-5 football leagues , no player is leading towards winning the European golden boot race.

With 38 goals, Viktor Gyokeres of the Liga Primeira (Portugal) is leading the golden boot race. Viktor Gyokeres has been consistent at scoring goals in big numbers. In the last game against Boavista FC, Gyokeres scored four goals that cleared him in the race as Mohamed Salah who is at the second position of the European golden shoe race is 10 goals behind him.

Viktor Gyokeres had 29 goals in the last season's campaign too and was the main reason for Sporting CP title win. His current form is attracting many big clubs and he might move into the top-5 leagues of Europe.

The form of Viktor Gyokeres is also raising questions if he will be able to continue the same and he is being compared to Erling Haaland as well in terms of scoring from inside the box only.

Who is Viktor Gyokeres? Viktor Einar Gyokeres is a Swedish professional football player and currently the hottest in the summer transfers. Gyokeres plays as a striker for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP and national team of Sweden. Gyokeres started his profrssional football career with a Swedish club IF Brommapojkarna in 2015 at the age of just 16 and scored 20 goals in 56 games that he played. He was a key member of 2015-16 campaign for Bommapojkarna and helped the side to rejoin Superettan from relegation with his 7 goals.

In September 2017, Gyokeres signed a deal with the Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion for a tenure of two and a half years. He later joined the squad in January of 2018 and was put into training with U-23 side. He didn't have a notable time at Brighton & Hove Albion and he was later loaned to second-tier German side St. Pauli for the 2019-20 season. After scoring 7 goals in 26 appearances, Gyokeres got back into Brighton and was again loaned to Swansea City for 2020-21 season.

Viktor Gyokeres joined Coventry City in January 2021 on loan again. He scored his first league goal in English football on 27 January against Sheffield Wednesday in a 2-0 victory. Gyokeres got a permanent deal of three years with Coventry on 9 July 2021. He ended the 2021-22 campaign with 17 goals in 45 league appearances. In the 2022-23 championship season, he was the player of the month in November due to his four goals in four games, leading his side to four consecutive victories. He was named the player of the month again in March for his three goals and three assists.

Worldwide Recognition

Viktor Gyokeres hattrick against Manchester City

In July 2023, Viktor Gyokeres signed a five-year deal with Sporting City of Primeira Liga for 20 million euros and extra 4 million euros as bonus, with a clause of 15% on the profit of his future sell. Coventry knew the potential of Gyokeres and put this sell-on clause. But later this 15% fee was reduced to 10%. The 2023-24 season was a trend setter from Gyokeres. On his debut he scored twice at home against Vizela to secure a 3-2 victory. From September 2023 to January 2024, Gyokeres won the player and forward of the month awards for five consecutive times for thirteen goals and six assists. The season ended with Sporting CP winning the Priimiera Liga and Viktor Gyokeres being the highest scorer and player of the year.

Since, mid 2023 social media started filling up with Gyokeres' stats and comparison with stats of the likes or Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo. He also ended the season in the top five players with goal the highest goal contributions and clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United started showing interest.

The current 2024-25 season has been a disturbing season for Gyokeres in terms of injury. In the earlier parts of the current campaign, he went through a knee surgery and a hamstring injury in January after winning the best Swedish Footbal Player award on December 16. The injuries couldn't stop him though and he yet managed to win mutiple player of the month and highest goal scorer of the month awards. In a UEFA Champions League match, he scored a hattrick against Manchester City which made him a social media sensation again. Viktor Gyokeres is currently the highest goal scorer in Europe and the main contender of the Europen Golden Shoes 2024-25.