Pep Guardiola will be keeping a close eye on Liverpool and Arsenal’s summer business, with both clubs looking like they are ready to do whatever it takes to win the Premier League title next season.
As a result, Manchester City could make more signings this summer as the Sky Blues would like to avoid a repeat of the 2024/2025 campaign where they did not even contest for the title.
Arsenal could sign Viktor Gyokeres after wrapping up the additions of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard while Hugo Ekitike wishes to sign for Liverpool and join the likes of Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez.
Pep Guardiola will be eager not for his City side to be left behind amongst English football’s crème de la crème come the following campaign.
Pep Guardiola claimed Arsenal target Viktor Gyokeres wouldn’t start for Man City
However, the Sky Blues can feel confident about usurping Arsenal in next season’s potential title race as Guardiola claimed Gyokeres wouldn’t start for Manchester City.
Viktor Gyokeres went on to punish Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side by scoring a hat-trick against them but the Catalan was steadfast in his stance back in November, saying: “We have Erling Haaland, the best striker in the world. Gyokeres is a very important player for them but he has been with [Ruben] Amorim for a long time, you can see the patterns, the joy.”
Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting CP in action against Arsenal
Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/JAR Sport Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Considering the two-time treble-winner effectively claimed that Erling Haaland is a superior striker to the Swede suggests that he would not be worried if Arsenal signed him, despite their long-awaited need for a proven goalscorer up front.
Ultimately, while Gyokeres has been a revelation for Sporting, Haaland instantly cemented his status at Manchester City as the division’s most feared number nine — scoring 85 league goals in 97 appearances.
Unlike the Norwegian, the Gunners target is not proven in the Premier League and while his record in Portugal is inarguably impressive, the gulf in class between the two divisions is incomparable.
With Rayan Cherki promising to improve Haaland next season, the star striker could benefit from the fact that an elite creator is going to service him but in Gyokeres’ case, Arsenal lack such a creative force — taking into account the Frenchman provided 20 assists for Lyon last season.
STATS RAYAN CHERKI BUKAYO SAKA
STARTS 34 30
ASSISTS 20 14
As a result, Pep Guardiola may well be confident even if Mikel Arteta’s side sign the former Brighton & Hove Albion marksman, as there are plenty of question marks about his suitability to the English top-flight.
Erling Haaland and Viktor Gyokeres stats compared
However, only time will tell which one of the strikers performs better next season.
Currently, Haaland is certainly far more established than Gyokeres based on their respective goalscoring stats.
STATS ERLING HAALAND VIKTOR GYOKERES
APPERANCES 382 359
GOALS 259 189
The former Borussia Dortmund hitman has 70 more goals than the latter despite playing just 23 more games.
As a result, Pep Guardiola might feel that even if Gyokeres signs for the North Londoners and hits the ground running, Haaland could outclass him and give Manchester City a much better chance of winning the title than Arsenal.