Last September, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Viktor Gyökeres proudly took to the stage, to accept his Gerd Muller Trophy after scoring 63 goals that calendar year.

It was an exceptional tally that dwarfed the output of several household names, strikers admired worldwide for their prolificacy. Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski all registered goal-counts in the forties.

From the beginning of March 2025 to the end of April alone the Stockholmer blasted 17 goals in 10 outings for Sporting CP, at a rate of a goal every 52 minutes.

Additionally around this period, Gyokeres was firing on every cylinder for Sweden, his nine Nations League strikes in six appearances ensuring that Blågult got promoted from League C, and evidently – indisputably – what the Scandinavian country now possessed was a feared forward, capable of taking them to heights rarely before reached.

He was the best attacking talent the nation had produced since Henrik Larsson and with a World Cup on the horizon, who knew what feats could be accomplished.

Only then, at that critical juncture, a lull, if lull is not too dramatic a term.

A lull turns to renaissance

When the forward received his award in France – as well as displaying gracious pride at finishing 15th in the main category – Gyokeres had recently completed a £63.5m switch to Arsenal and by every account was struggling to adapt. An early brace scored at home to Leeds had given way to missed chances and largely anonymous performances.

By the tail-end of his inaugural campaign in the Premier League the 28-year-old was relegated to the bench, mainly brought on as an impact sub.

Furthermore, for Sweden too, the goals dried up. Reaching the World Cup having been fast-tracked to the play-offs courtesy of their Nations League success remarkably Sweden didn’t win a single one of their qualifying fixtures and mirroring their struggles Gyokeres didn’t score once across the whole campaign.

This brought another worry too, namely a nationwide debate as to whether he could play compatibly up front alongside Alexander Isak, Sweden’s other Premier League superstar.

Granted, Isak could be deployed wide of a front three – as he had on occasion at Newcastle – but the evidence to that point was hardly encouraging.

That’s why Sweden’s 5-1 thumping of Tunisia this week was so important to a nation that hosted the World Cup way back in 1958. Gyokeres scored, first and foremost, while earlier in the contest he assisted for his striking cohort Isak.

“Together they can be a real threat. I think they'll get better and better the more they play; they complement each other very well.”

That was Sweden’s manager Graham Potter’s interpretation of what he saw on Sunday and if he is right then Japan and the Netherlands are set to be severely tested in the coming days.

In May, Gkoyeres collected a Premier League winners medal. Now he is performing at the highest level on the biggest sporting stage.

If this renaissance continues we may yet see a return to prolificacy for a forward who so recently put striking greats in the shade.