Gyokeres next? 8 Liga Portugal Golden Boot winners who flopped after a big transfer
Arsenal are reportedly close to signing Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon. It would be a statement signing for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners.
The Sweden international has been wildly prolific for the Primeira Liga outfit, but scoring goals in Portugal isn’t always a guarantee of success elsewhere. Just look at this lot.
Here are the last eight Golden Boot winners who moved abroad and what they went on to achieve.
Hulk
Brazilian Hulk arrived in Portugal after a career that had taken him to Tokyo, but Porto’s decision to sign him in 2008 was soon rewarded.
He hit 23 goals in the 2010-11 season, powering the club back to the title having lost out to Benfica the year before and Hulk became one of the early movers away from Europe after he joined Zenit in 2012.
Costing €60 million, Hulk made 97 appearances for the Russian club before moving to Shanghai.
The 38-year-old is now back in his home country with Atletico Mineiro and won Brazil’s top league in 2021.
Oscar Cardozo
After his time at Benfica came to an end, the Paraguayan striker Cardozo moved to Turkey to join Trabzonspor.
Fifty games later and he was on the move again, this time to Olympiacos but played just 22 times before heading back home.
He joined Libertad and has stayed there ever since, becoming the club’s all-time top appearance maker in the process.
During his time there, Cardozo has won five league titles and three Copa Paraguay.
Jackson Martinez
Top scorer in three consecutive seasons, Martinez’s career promised a lot, but it didn’t quite hit the peaks expected.
Nowadays, Martinez is arguably best remembered for sparking the all-time classic “he’s 28 until he’s 29, that’s how it works” exchange between Arsenal fans on Twitter. That says something about how his career panned out.
The Colombian joined Atletico Madrid in 2015 for a €35million fee, but he lasted just one year under Diego Simeone, who preferred two up top rather than the sole striker role he had at Porto.
He could maybe have stayed and found his feet, but Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao offered a record fee of €42million, which Atletico were more than happy to accept.
Martinez stayed in China for two years before moving on loan, and then permanently, to Portuguese club Portimonense.
Martinez, who is still second in Porto’s all-time top scores, retired in 2020.
Bas Dost
Dost spent three years at Sporting before heading to Germany and Eintracht Frankfurt.
From 2021 to 2024, he had a new club every season as he pinged from Club Brugge to Utrecht and then NEC Nijmegen.
But he suffered a serious medical incident at the latter, collapsing on the pitch during a game against AZ Alkmaar.
He was diagnosed with myocarditis, forcing him to step away from the game and his contract at NEC ran out last year.
Haris Seferovic
Swiss striker Seferovic settled in Benfica after playing for seven clubs before and found his best form in the 2018-19 season, scoring 23 goals in the process.
He stayed in Portugal until 2022, when he moved on loan to Galatasaray and then on to Celta Vigo before heading to Dubai and Al Wasl in 2023.
Earlier this year, the now 33-year-old joined Al-Nasr.
Carlos Vinicius
In what will surely be an obscure quiz question in the future, Vinicius spent a season on loan at Tottenham in 2020 but managed just one goal in his nine games there.
After Spurs, he joined PSV on loan, doing slightly better with six in 24, which prompted Fulham to sign the Brazilian in 2022.
Failing to nail down a spot in the starting team, he spent six months on loan at Galatasaray in 2024 but barely played any minutes for the London club on his return. He’s now looking for a new club.
Darwin Nunez
A frustrating player to watch even if you are not of a Liverpool persuasion, Nunez has shown glimpses of his talent but has failed to find the same goal-scoring form at Anfield as he did at Benfica.
Liverpool shelled out £64 million for him, with add-ons potentially taking the overall fee to £85million, but he has failed to live up to the price tag.
After Jurgen Klopp’s patience, Arne Slot has appeared a bit more ruthless and the 25-year-old has been linked with a move away in the summer.
Mehdi Taremi
Following a season which saw him score 22 goals for Porto, Taremi made history by becoming the first Iranian to play for Inter Milan and only the second Asian in the club’s history.
Unfortunately for the 32-year-old, the goals have not been free-flowing at the San Siro. He made 43 appearances in all competitions in 2025-26 but scored just three goals.
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