Goalscoring is Gyokeres’ most obvious attribute, and there is no doubt he has been a goal machine in Portugal.

His 39 goals ranked as the most in Europe’s top 10 leagues last season, and he scored at least eight more than any other player.

It put him in an elite group – the only other players in the past 20 years to have scored at least 39 goals in a season in one of Europe’s top 10 leagues are Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Luis Suarez.

Twelve of Gyokeres’ Primeira Liga goals were penalties, but his total of 27 non-penalty goals was still three more than anyone else. He averaged 4.5 shots per 90 minutes, while Jesus had 3.0 and Havertz 2.6 in the Premier League.

He also had a mammoth 327 touches in the opposition box and appeared to adopt a ‘shoot on sight’ policy with 139 efforts on goal – effectively one every 20 minutes.

His accuracy was even more impressive.

The Swede’s shot-conversion rate (excluding blocked shots and penalties) of 27.3% was better than Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah (21.1%), Manchester City striker Erling Haaland (21.6%) and Newcastle centre-forward Isak (26.4%).

Indeed only Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood had a better conversion rate in the Premier League.

Gyokeres also scored nine goals in six games for his country – including four in one match against Azerbaijan – in the 2024-25 Nations League, finishing the tournament as top scorer.

The question is whether Gyokeres can be quite so prolific in a stronger league. He has now turned 27 and is still to play a single game in Europe’s top five divisions.

Data analysts Opta rank the Portuguese Primeira Liga as eighth in the world’s strongest leagues,, external behind the usual big five (England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France), the Belgian Jupiler Pro League and even the English Championship, where Gyokeres impressed before moving to Lisbon.

Sceptics will point to Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez struggling for consistency in England after scoring 26 goals in 28 Primeira Liga games for Benfica during the 2021-22 season.

But Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, Manchester City’s Ruben Dias and Bournemouth’s Evanilson have all thrived in the Premier League after moves from Portugal.

And Gyokeres brings more than goals.

The 6ft 2in striker is known for his intelligent movement and intense work-rate, and his blend of physical strength, technical skill and tactical awareness have earned him admiring glances.

He is a creator as well as a goalscorer, with a lot of his chance creation coming from his love of running with the ball.

After failing to make the grade at Brighton, Gyokeres joined Coventry for a small fee in July 2021 after an unspectacular return of three goals in 19 Championship appearances during a loan spell with the Sky Blues.

Two years later he went to Sporting for £20.5m after scoring 38 times in 91 league games for Coventry across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

In Portugal he became a scoring machine. As he returns to England, only time will tell if he can replicate that success against elite-level defences.