Aston Villa v West Ham United - Premier League
Liverpool legend and ex-England defender Jamie Carragher (Picture: Getty)
Jamie Carragher felt Arsenal summer signing Viktor Gyokeres should have been dropped and could have ended up ‘costing’ the Gunners the Premier League before his recent upturn in form.
Gyokeres endured an underwhelming start to his Arsenal career after being signed from Sporting for £64m, scoring just five league goals in the first-half of the season.
The Sweden international scored almost a goal a game for Portuguese giants Sporting but failed to replicate that form in north London for title-chasing Arsenal.
Gyokeres has been far more productive since the turn of the New Year, however, contributing eight goals including a brace in Sunday’s emphatic north London derby win over Tottenham.
Carragher praised Gyokeres’ ‘mentality’ after the 4-1 thumping, which put Arsenal five points clear at the top of the Premier League, and said Mikel Arteta deserved ‘credit’ for ‘sticking with’ his big-money summer signing.
The Liverpool legend admits he was once of the opinion Arsenal needed to drop Gyokeres and was ‘surprised’ Arteta continued showing faith in the 27-year-old former Manchester United target.
‘The thing I like about Viktor Gyokeres is his mentality,’ Carragher told Sky Sports after Arsenal’s latest north London derby win. ‘I don’t think he’s a world-class striker or an amazing striker for Arsenal for the next five or years.
Your football fix
Metro's Head of Sport James Goldman delivers punchy analysis, transfer talk and his take on the week's biggest stories direct to your inbox every week.
Sign up here, it's an open goal.
Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal - Premier League
Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring against Tottenham (Picture: Getty)
‘But I absolutely love his mentality. There’s no lack of confidence with him, he just gets the ball and bangs it in, it’s Alan Shearer-like, that sort of mentality.
‘As Gary Neville said on commentary, I think that’s the best we’ve seen Gyokeres play in an Arsenal shirt, it was an absolutely fantastic finish.
‘He could be [vital] and what I would say is here, is credit the manager. I felt they had to come away from Gyokeres and I thought at some stage it might cost them.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
‘But the manager has stuck by him week after week and the strength he showed in this game, it was very Alan Shearer-like.
‘We were looking at the strikers Arsenal had and I felt he was quite far down the pecking order and a few times I was quite surprised that Gyokeres was still in the team.
‘But fair play to the manager because he’s kept him in and he’s repaid him in one of Arsenal’s biggest games of the season.’
Arteta heaped praise on Gyokeres after the win over Tottenham, saying: ‘He was outstanding today. There have been glimmers of it every week but today, I thought he was fantastic.’
On the victory as a whole and the title race, Arteta added: ‘Really happy, really proud about how we approached the game.
‘The initiative and the quality we showed to come here and win the game in the way that we did.
‘This is the Premier League, it will go all the way for sure. Ten games in the Premier League is a long way.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: Liverpool told to sign £58m Chelsea flop to replace Mohamed Salah
MORE: Viktor Gyokeres reveals what Arsenal players said in crisis talks before north London derby
MORE: Wayne Rooney says Arsenal star has ‘not been good enough’ since summer transfer
Football Newsletter – In The Mixer
Punchy analysis, transfer talk and more from Metro's football experts, sent straight to your inbox every week.