Coventry City lauded for £1 million transfer "masterstroke" that made millions in profit | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry City fan pundit discussed the "masterstroke" signing of Viktor Gyokeres back in 2021

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Coventry City undeniably struck gold with the signing of Viktor Gyokeres, which initially appeared an uninspiring transfer gamble but eventually represented one of the club's greatest ever pieces of business.

The Swedish frontman first arrived in the West Midlands to little fanfare, joining on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion for the second-half of the 2020/21 campaign following 11 goalless league appearances in the preceding months with Championship rivals Swansea City.

Gyokeres fared better at Coventry, scoring three goals in the remainder of the season, but bedlam hardly ensued when the Sky Blues decided to make his stay permanent by parting with a reported £1 million sum that summer. However, it swiftly became apparent that the Sky Blues had indeed sourced themselves a serious bargain as Gyokeres scored 17 times in the 2021/22 Championship season.

Better still was the following year, which saw Gyokeres direct the Sky Blues' run to the play-off final by registering 21 goals and 12 assists. That form promptly earned interest from Portuguese giants Sporting CP, who acquired Gyokeres' services that summer in a deal worth up to £21m.

The rest, of course, is history. Gyokeres has evolved into a bonafide superstar in Portugal, scoring an astonishing 83 goals and counting from just 91 appearances.

His exploits in both the UEFA Europa League and the Champions League - including a hattrick against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City earlier this year - have caught the eye in particular, and Gyokeres has perhaps been world football's single hottest property over the last twelve months.

The 26-year-old has been linked to just about every leading continental club, and is reportedly of interest to the likes of Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Manchester United and Liverpool. As per reports, Gyokeres has a release clause of around £85 million - which could leave Coventry to benefit further from the Swede.

Viktor Gyokeres named as Coventry City's biggest transfer masterstroke

FLW asked our Sky Blues fan pundit, Chris Deez, to name who he believes is his club's biggest transfer masterstroke. Though Chris touched on Gus Hamer, who starred for Coventry alongside Gyokeres and left for Sheffield United in the same window, he ultimately opted for the Sporting CP superstar.

"Coventry's transfer dealings over the years have normally been quite shrewd," Chris told FLW.

"We don't really spent a huge amount of money on players, other than the last season or so with the likes of Milan van Ewijk, Jack Rudoni and Haji Wright.

"But we've only had that money to spend because of the sales of Gus Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres. So if I was to say what was our biggest masterstroke in terms of transfers, it has to be Gyokeres.

"He was on loan here - he'd gone out on loan a couple of times from Brighton and he didn't look like anything special - scored three goals in his first season on loan. I was surprised when we spent just over £1 million to sign him permanently, and the rest is history.

"What an amazing piece of business that was. He scored a bucketload of goals in his two full seasons with us, and we sold him for about £21 million to Sporting CP.

Coventry City will benefit from Sporting CP, Viktor Gyokeres sale

Shrewdly, Coventry included a sell-on clause as part of the deal that took Gyokeres to Portugal and the Championship promotion hopefuls are said to have a 10 percent sell-on clause.

If Gyokeres' reported £85 million release clause is met this summer, Coventry would get 10 percent of the difference between what they sold him for and selling fee, meaning they would net around £6 million.

That would represent a healthy cash injection that Frank Lampard would surely love to put to good use irrespective of what division the Sky Blues are in come next term, with their hopes of a Premier League return very much alive amid a late surge under the former Chelsea and Everton boss.

Chris also discussed the sell-on clause, which he believes is further evidence of just how good the signing of Gyokeres proved to be all-round.

"We know there's a sell-on clause in there, we stand to gain at least another few million anywhere up to about £6-8 million, I believe," Chris continued.

"All for a player who nobody fancied at the time, hadn't impressed anywhere he had been and only cost us £1 million. I think the same can be said about Hamer but not quite to the extent and level of Gyokeres.

"Hamer is a very, very good player, but I think upper Championship or lower Premier League is his level. Gyokeres, since we sold him, has been probably the best striker in the world other than Harry Kane, and the money we gain from him when he moves on from Lisbon should set us up for another couple of transfer windows."