Gyokeres comes home for Champions League clash as we rate Primeira Liga top scorers’ success after blockbuster transfers
Gyokeres comes home for Champions League clash as we rate Primeira Liga top scorers’ success after blockbuster transfers Viktor Gyokeres makes his return to Sporting CP tonight, when Arsenal take on the Portuguese side in the Champions League. Gyokeres scored 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting over two seasons before a £54m transfer to the Premier League . He's not the first player to earn a big move after prolific form in Portugal , but not all have been a success.
We've remembered some previous Primeira Liga top scorers and judged how they fared after high-profile transfers. Mario Jardel - Porto to Galatasaray, 2000 (€17m) Mario Jardel produced a quite bonkers goal record in the Primeira Liga, with four consecutive campaigns as the league's top scorer between 1996 and 2000. Jardel scored 169 goals in just 175 games for Porto, prompting Galatasaray to shatter their transfer record to land him.
Fresh from winning the UEFA Cup, the Turkish team signed Jardel as a replacement for Hakan Suker, who was sold to Inter Milan. Jardel marked his debut with five goals against Erzurumspor and netted twice as Galatasaray beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the UEFA Super Cup final. He ended the campaign with 34 goals in 43 appearances across all competitions, but returned to Portugal after only one season, signing for Sporting CP.
Lisandro Lopez - Porto to Lyon, 2009 (€28m) Lisandro Lopez led the league for goals during the 2007/08 campaign. After two modest seasons at Porto, the Argentine found his goal groove during a prolific Primeira Liga campaign. He scored 24 goals in 27 games to win the Bola de Prata, but departed a year later to sign for Lyon.
Brought in as a replacement for Karim Benzema, Lopez hit the ground running. A 24-goal debut season was followed by sustained scoring sprees, as the forward fired 82 goals in 168 games. Hulk - Porto to Zenit St Petersburg, 2012 (€60m) Hulk hammered in goals for fun in a Porto shirt, notching 77 in 170 games for the club.