'He's a real player' - Sean Dyche gives glowing review of Man Utd & Arsenal target Viktor Gyokeres before revealing Everton missed out on Sporting striker during Championship days

The Sweden international is currently one of the most sought-after strikers in world football due to his goal-scoring exploits at the Portuguese side. Amid links with Arsenal and Manchester United, ex-Everton boss Dyche has revealed how close the Toffees came to signing the 27-year-old when he was at Coventry City in 2023.

The former Burnley manager saw Gyokeres first-hand in a pre-season friendly between Everton and Sporting in the summer of 2023 and was left mightily impressed.

He told talkSPORT: "The boy Gyokeres, I've got to be honest, I think he's a real player. I saw him in the Championship. Then we played him in pre-season and I thought, 'Strong, honest'. Not just the fact he was scoring goals by the way, there's more to his game I think."

Dyche added that he wanted to sign Gyokeres prior to his Sporting switch but "the numbers kept growing".

Gyokeres was at a crossroads in his career after leaving Brighton in 2021. But he found his feet at Coventry and then made an eye-catching move to Sporting for £17 million ($23m). But very few would have expected him to score 97 goals in 102 games and be coveted by top teams across the planet.

It remains to be seen which team Gyokeres, who has a £85m ($114m) release clause but could be sold for around £60m ($81m) this summer, will join ahead of next season but it seems his time with Sporting is set to end.