Viktor Gyokeres started and scored for Sporting on Friday night as the reigning Portuguese champions began their title defence with a win.
Gyokeres, 26, played the full 90 minutes and scored the team’s third goal in a 3-1 victory at home to Rio Ave. The Swedish international did miss Sporting’s first two pre-season friendlies against Union Saint-Gilloise and Sevilla before returning a fortnight ago against Athletic Club.
He played an hour in that game and then played the entirety of the Portuguese Super Cup, assisting two goals, albeit as Porto won 4-3 after extra time. But six days later, Gyokeres turned from provider to goalscorer.
Following the match, the player shared a photo of himself on his Instagram story. “Let’s go,” Gyokeres captioned the post, punctuating it with a lion emoji, the animal the team takes its nickname from.
The striker has said little about his future this summer, last speaking about it after Sporting won the league in early May.
“Ruben Amorim is a great coach; I wouldn’t mind if he stayed (laughs),” Gyokeres said (via Bola na Rede). “I’ve had many coaches, but of course, Ruben Amorim brought me here; he was very important in my career.
“Thank you, Sporting fans, see you soon. It’s football; I can’t promise anything; I have a contract, and I won’t be sad if I leave – I’m very happy but we’ll see what happens. We can’t predict much, but we’ll see what next year will be like.”
Those comments came two months after addressing the speculation about his future during the March international break. “It’s a sign that I’ve performed well,” Gyokeres told Fotbollskanalen . “But it’s not something I take too seriously, since it’s just speculation. But of course, it’s fun.
“We’ll see this summer. It’s not something I know about myself, what will happen, I enjoy Sporting extremely well and feel no stress about the summer coming quickly.”