Chelsea had a scout in the stands to watch Viktor Gyokeres play for Sweden in their 5-2 loss to Portugal on Thursday evening, according to Record.

The Portuguese tabloid claims that it was the third time “in the space of 3 months” that the Blues had sent an observer to see the striker in action.

Gyokeres would have impressed onlookers, as he scored a consolation goal just before the hour mark during Sweden’s comprehensive defeat.

The 25-year-old has also been in phenomenal form for his club following his switch to Sporting Lisbon from Coventry last summer.

In 39 appearances, Gyokeres has hit the back of the net 36 times as well as contributing 14 assists across all competitions.

Gyokeres spoke out about his future back in January

A couple of months ago, when rumours about Chelsea’s interest first began to circulate in Portugal, the forward made it clear that he had not had his head turned by the reports:

“There’s a lot of talk on social media and elsewhere, but I’m not focused on that. I don’t think about anything else. I’m here right now. I’m 100% focused on this and the club.”

At the time, it was claimed that the Blues had already tabled an €85m (£73m) bid for the Swedish international but Sporting rejected the proposal as they wanted the London club to match his €100m (£86m) release clause.

Doubts have been raised about Chelsea’s interest

Although reports in Portugal have been pretty consistent that Mauricio Pochettino’s side are one of Gyokeres’s main suitors, along with Arsenal, the English press have been more sceptical.

Other strikers, such as Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Brighton’s Evan Ferguson are believed to be higher up the shortlist than Gyokeres. We shall see whether those claims are accurate when we get to the summer transfer window.