Paul Scholes believes Mikel Arteta was forced into one of his Arsenal summer signings due to a lack of alternative options. The Gunners splashed the cash to try to take the big step to become Premier League champions.
While they are the current front-runners in both the English top-flight and Champions League tables, it's not been the easiest ride to the top for Arteta and his players. Injury issues have continued to persist and some of the new arrivals have yet to settle into the starting XI.
Martin Zubimendi is the only nailed-on starter of the summer signings so far. Kepa, Christian Norgaard, Piero Hincapie and Noni Madueke were all brought in to strengthen the squad depth at the Emirates, and that's the exact role they've all taken up so far.
Paul Scholes Questions Arsenal's Signing of Viktor Gyokeres
Viktor Gyokeres
However, there were big expectations around the Viktor Gyokeres transfer. Several huge clubs were linked with the Swedish talisman, who scored 97 goals in only 102 Sporting CP appearances.
The striker position was seen as the main reason Arteta's side were yet to get their hands on the Premier League trophy after three title challenges in a row. Gyokeres, however, hasn't quite clicked and displayed an ability to fire the north Londoners to glory.
Having registered only four league goals in 14 games, the 27-year-old became a topic of conversation between Manchester United legends Scholes and Nicky Butt on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast. The former initially handed out praise and speculated on how Arsenal players would feel about the centre-forward:
"Do you know what I think about Gyokeres? I don’t think he’s ever going to be an unbelievable goalscorer but I think the rest of the team will like playing with him.
"He’s a focal point and works his b****** off."
Butt was quick to add the fact that the Gunners haven't played with an out-and-out striker in the past couple of seasons. He said: "He’s gone into a team at Arsenal that’s never had a centre-forward; they didn’t play with a proper striker last season. It might not be Gyokeres' fault, it might be the other players not knowing where he is.
"It’s tough for a player to go into a team that isn’t used to playing with a centre forward. But he’s a focal point to get them up the pitch. It had to be perfect for Arsenal to get into the final third last season, it had to be intricate to get up the pitch and they did it well to be fair."
The retired midfielder then added that he felt the club were under pressure to sign a goalscorer, adding: "It’s the pressure. The pressure to buy a centre forward. The pressure to buy a striker at a club who keep nearly winning the title is massive."
Scholes chimed in once again to agree and add: "I think Gyokeres was the last one available as well."
Watch the full discussion in the video below (22:00 onwards):
Scholes Previously Laughed at Gyokeres Joke
Paul Scholes
Scholes has already been criticised this season for laughing at a joke made on The Overlap's Fan Debate, which was aimed at Gyokeres. One of the supporters claimed the Sweden international looked like he was playing in jeans.
Jamie Carragher laughed along as well, and both retired footballers were then slammed by social media users. Scholes' opinion of the signing doesn't appear to have improved since then.
Statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt. Correct as of 17-12-25.