Brighton have built a reputation for unearthing talent and turning it into profit, yet Viktor Gyokeres’ story reads like a glorious exception, a player who slipped from their grasp before detonating elsewhere.
Sold for just £1m in 2021, Gyokeres has since exploded into a club-record calibre striker: a £20m revelation at Sporting CP, a £63.5m marquee signing for Arsenal, and the 2025 Gerd Müller Trophy winner for most goals that year.
What looked like a misstep for the Seagulls has turned into one of modern football’s most striking reversals.
Misread potential or bad timing
Brighton didn’t so much miss his talent as misplace the context he needed.
At the club he arrived as a promising youngster within a productive academy, part of a U23 side that climbed into Premier League 2 alongside future top-flight names, but his pathway to regular first-team minutes stalled. Brighton were in survival mode in the top flight and, for a while, development took a back seat to results.
The result: eight senior appearances, none in the Premier League, and a quiet return of one goal.
Playing out of position shaped a striker
Crucial to understanding Gyokeres’ early years is the fact he arrived as a winger, not the out-and-out centre-forward he is today.
At Brighton he cut in from the left, helped full-backs and tracked back, the very traits that made him valuable, but they limited his opportunity to grow into a pure goalscorer.
Teammates recall his habit of drifting inside and hunting the penalty area, a hint of the predator he would become once asked to lead the line. That habit would later become a signature: powerful channel runs from the left that end in clinical finishes.
Loans, Coventry and the turning point
Temporary moves to Swansea and Coventry gave him minutes but not permanence.
It was the permanent switch to Coventry that changed everything. Given licence to be the main striker in the Championship, Gyokeres bulked up, sharpened his finishing and found a confidence that only consistent responsibility can create.
Goals flowed, celebrations were born, and the mask he perfected in the Sky Blues era became the emblem of a player transformed by belief and hard work.
From Coventry to Sporting to Arsenal
Sporting CP amplified what Coventry started: he became a physical force who combined pace, power and ruthless anticipation.
That form earned Arsenal’s cheque and the spotlight he’d been denied earlier.
Even during a goal drought in North London his work rate and team-first attitude were praised, traits rooted in the Brighton days when he learned to help the team defensively and move intelligently off the ball. Brighton’s academy shaped his qualities; other clubs simply gave him the stage.
Verdict
This is not a simple tale of a club failing a player. It is a case of timing, role and opportunity. Brighton identified the talent early, but survival priorities and a different positional plan delayed Gyokeres’ evolution into a striker.
When circumstances aligned elsewhere, the responsibility at Coventry, the upgrade at Sporting, he became the finisher the scouts always glimpsed.
Brighton can claim part credit for his education; the rest belongs to a player who demanded the stage and then seized it.
