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'Just scary' - Rovers man recalls battles with £55m Arsenal new boy Gyokeres

Viktor Gyokeres scored twice in Arsenal's rout of Leeds. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)placeholder image

Viktor Gyokeres scored twice in Arsenal's rout of Leeds. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Saturday saw Viktor Gyokeres get off the mark for new club Arsenal after his mega-money summer transfer.

The Swede swapped Sporting Lisbon for the Emirates in a deal that is reported as being worth around £55million. And he hasn't taken long to open his Arsenal account, scoring twice in the 5-0 thumping of Leeds United.

Doncaster Rovers defender Jay McGrath was with the centre-forward during their time together at Coventry City and recently recalled training ground battles with the 27-year-old.

Speaking on the From My Left podcast, the Rovers man said: "I was with him at Coventry. I was an under-21 at the time and we had him on loan from Brighton for a year and then he signed permanently.

"He nearly finished my career! It was in training. Obviously, the under-21s used to go up and do training with the first team sometimes and this was the year after we'd had him on loan. His loan didn't go very well when he first came in and he actually played a few under-21s games that first year and he looked unbelievable.

"Then the club signed him permanently and he came back and he was like a monster. I've never seen anyone come back physically like him. It was ridiculous.

"One day in training the ball gets played down the left channel. I'm left-sided centre-back and he's ran across me, grabbed me with his left arm and ran towards the ball whilst carrying me with him! I tried getting past him but I couldn't move - I'm just stuck!

"The athleticism he had is just scary. Obviously his natural ability is so good but his work rate and diet is great. He's a serious, serious man."

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