Arsenal brought in Viktor Gyokeres to be the missing piece of their title-winning jigsaw - and while they are top of the Premier League - the Swede is yet to fire
Viktor Gyokeres
Gyokeres struggled as Arsenal limped past Wolves(Image: (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images))
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The whole point of the Viktor Gyokeres transfer was the here and now. And to that point, you have to say that Arsenal’s £64m summer signing has not yet worked.
The key word remains “yet.” He might come good. He is 27, he is only a few months into a five year contract and he may adapt to life at Arsenal.
But Arsenal went down the Gyokeres route - a deal championed by sporting director Andrea Berta - because they wanted a player who was ready to go.
He was brought in for his prolific goal scoring record, his mentality but also because he was at a stage of his career where you would not have to wait. He was bought to hit the ground running.
Arsenal want trophies now. He was brought in to score the goals to help them get over the line and that was at the very heart of his signing.
The previous recruitment team liked Benjamin Sesko and nearly got him in the summer of 2024. The club looked again this summer but went for Gyokeres because Sesko is younger and a work in progress.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta loves Alexander Isak but that has yet to work out for Liverpool and the £125m price tag puts even more pressure on him.
They did look at Hugo Ekitike in the past - you would be surprised if they didn't - and, of all the strikers from this summer’s Premier League carousel, you would argue he has been the best to date.
The bigger worry for Gyokeres is that the game against Wolves on Saturday felt like a new low. He was barely involved in the game. He never looked like scoring, putting one effort wide and another was a cross shot which did neither.
Furthermore, Gyokeres looks clunky, clumsy and heavy when it is not going well. You can be sure that he looks a bit more free-flowing when he is in the groove and people assure me he does have pace.
Mikel Arteta has defended Viktor Gyokeres
Mikel Arteta has defended Viktor Gyokeres(Image: (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))
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But just when he was in that groove - scoring and playing well at Burnley - he got injured and that has completely interrupted any sort of progress.
I’ve said before how good the Arsenal fans have been with Gyokeres. They have backed him, they like his industry and work ethic. He runs himself to a standstill.
But he was bought to score goals. And if he’s not scoring them, then Arsenal have to expect him to contribute to them. Put bluntly, Arsenal might as well have been playing with 10 men against Wolves.
To be fair to Gyokeres, he looks better away from home when he leads the charge and closes down defenders. I still think there is a player there - but he is just not delivering on what was promised in the summer. Here and now.
Yes, he missed pre-season and looks like he needs time to get into the groove. Even Didier Drogba took a year before we saw the very best of one of the all-time Premier League greats.
But now Mikel Arteta faces a dilemma because dropping Gyokeres at Everton would be a statement and damage his confidence. However, Gabriel Jesus looked much livelier when he came on.
Kai Havertz is getting fitter and closer to a return. Arteta loves the Germany forward and it feels inevitable he will come back in soon.
But this comes back to the point that Arsenal were not supposed to be waiting on Gyokeres to come good. And yet the reality is they are.
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