Viktor Gyokeres arrived at Arsenal carrying the expectations that come with a £63million transfer, Thierry Henry’s No.14 shirt and years of supporters demanding an elite centre-forward.
One year later, Arsenal are Premier League champions and Gyokeres can point to 21 goals during his debut campaign.
Yet as Mikel Arteta’s side begin their title defence, one of last summer’s headline signings suddenly finds himself watching from the sidelines.
Gyokeres has played just 15 competitive minutes this season.
Kai Havertz has started ahead of him twice, scored twice and left Arteta with an increasingly difficult question.
How did Arsenal’s star striker become the odd man out so quickly?
🚨 Atletico Madrid may want a replacement for Julian Alvarez, should they sanction his sale, but Arsenal have been reluctant to countenance a deal which involves Viktor Gyökeres. ❌🇸🇪 [@johncrossmirror] pic.twitter.com/RZOUjSj91a
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 28, 2026
Viktor Gyokeres delivered what Arsenal bought him for
It is important not to rewrite Gyokeres’ first season.
Arsenal signed the Sweden international from Sporting after years of debate over whether Arteta’s side needed a specialist goalscorer.
He wasn’t perfect.
His combination play could look awkward in an Arsenal attack built around intricate movement, while there were matches where he struggled to influence possession.
But Gyokeres scored 21 times in 55 appearances and finished as Arsenal’s leading scorer as they won their first Premier League title in 22 years.
ReadArsenal ranked him among Arsenal’s best signings of the 2025/26 season, largely because he remained available and supplied goals when injuries repeatedly disrupted Arteta’s attacking options.
A year ago, Arsenal’s official announcement contained an emphatic Arteta assessment of what Gyokeres offered: power, intelligent movement and clinical finishing. (Arsenal)
None of those qualities have disappeared.
What has changed is the competition around him.
Kai Havertz has changed Arsenal’s striker hierarchy
The first warning arrived in Cardiff.
Arteta selected Havertz rather than Gyokeres to lead Arsenal’s attack against Manchester City in the Community Shield.
Havertz scored in a convincing 3-0 victory. (The FA)
ReadArsenal argued afterwards that Havertz had immediately made Gyokeres’ Arsenal problem much worse.
Coventry City then looked like the obvious opportunity for Arteta to reverse the hierarchy.
Gyokeres was facing his former club. Arsenal were overwhelming favourites at home. A penalty-box striker seemed ideally suited to a game in which the champions expected to dominate territory.
Instead, Arteta picked Havertz again.
And Havertz scored again.
Arsenal won 3-0, while Gyokeres remained an unused substitute. Reuters described an Arsenal performance built around structure, control and attacking flow, with Havertz opening the scoring after only 15 minutes.
Two games do not define an entire season.
But two selections tell us something.
When Arteta had both strikers available for Arsenal’s first two competitive starting XIs, he chose Havertz twice.
Why Arsenal look different with Havertz
This is not simply a goals argument.
Gyokeres remains the more natural penalty-box striker. He wants to attack space, occupy centre-backs and finish moves.
Havertz allows Arsenal to build them differently.
The German can drop towards midfield, compete for direct passes and vacate central areas for Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Arsenal’s other attacking midfielders.
That mobility has become particularly valuable as Arteta changes the structure around his forwards.
It does not necessarily make Havertz the superior striker.
It may make him the striker who currently makes this version of Arsenal function better.
That distinction is uncomfortable for Gyokeres.
Forgotten man or Arsenal’s next major weapon?
Writing Gyokeres off would be premature.
Arteta was unequivocal earlier this month when questioned about the striker’s future:
“He’s going to stay.”
The Arsenal manager has therefore not discarded a player who contributed heavily to last season’s title.
And Arsenal’s schedule will eventually demand rotation across the Premier League, Champions League and domestic cups.
But the status has changed.
Twelve months ago, Gyokeres was the expensive new No.14 expected to solve Arsenal’s striker problem.
Twelve months later, Arsenal have won the title and their top scorer cannot get into the starting XI.
That might only be temporary.
For now, however, the £63million star signing has something he rarely faced during his first season at Arsenal: a fight simply to get his place back.
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