Viktor Gyokeres marked his 50th appearance for Arsenal with a brace, but how do his stats since joining the club compare to some of their previous big-name strikers upon reaching half a century?
Gyokeres got on the scoresheet twice in the first half of Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Fulham on Saturday, celebrating his 50th appearance for the club in style. However, opinion has been split of the Swedish striker on the whole since he joined from Sporting CP in the summer.
Gyokeres scored 43 goals from his first 50 games for Sporting. It was never expected that he’d be able to do the same for Arsenal, but they were pinning their hopes on him to become the reliable striker they needed to make the leap towards becoming title winners.
Arsenal are now six points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, but their title rivals have two games in hand. There will be many more twists and turns before it becomes clear if Gyokeres will be a title winner by the end of his first season back in English football.
He has earned some admirers with his efforts, regardless. For example, Wayne Rooney told the BBC on Saturday: “I’ve liked Gyokeres all season. I think he does so well for the team. He occupies defenders and I think his goal tally has been good this season.
“This is when you need him now, during the run-in. This is what you need when you bring a no. 9 into the club. This is when you need them most.”
But from what he has done so far on an individual level, how has Gyokeres compared to some of Arsenal’s other high-profile striker signings from the Premier League era?
We’ve compared his record after 50 games for the club to Thierry Henry, Olivier Giroud, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his current teammate, Gabriel Jesus.
Viktor Gyokeres after 50 Arsenal appearances
Goals: 21
Assists: 3
Goal contributions: 24
Penalties: 4 ⭐
Thierry Henry
Goals: 27
Assists: 12 ⭐
Goal contributions: 39 ⭐
Penalties: 2
Olivier Giroud
Goals: 20
Assists: 11
Goal contributions: 31
Penalties: 1
Alexandre Lacazette
Goals: 22
Assists: 9
Goal contributions: 31
Penalties: 3
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Goals: 29 ⭐
Assists: 9
Goal contributions: 38
Penalties: 3
Gabriel Jesus
Goals: 17
Assists: 12 ⭐
Goal contributions: 29
Penalties: 1
READ MORE: The Premier League net spend table since Mikel Arteta took over at Arsenal in 2019
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every Arsenal club captain of the Premier League era?