Arsenal have made an impressive start to the season, winning eight of their opening 10 games, but it has not been quite as easy for new striker Viktor Gyokeres.
After three goals in his first four matches, the £64m signing has not scored for six matches, with manager Mikel Arteta saying he gave the Sweden forward a hug after Saturday’s 2-0 win over West Ham for his efforts.
Gyokeres has played 90 minutes in six of Arsenal’s opening 10 matches – more than Arteta planned for, with the knee injury to Kai Havertz restricting the ability the manager has to rotate the 27-year-old.
Havertz is one of Arteta’s most trusted players and there is an argument to be had that the German would have started instead of Gyokeres in big away matches against Liverpool – the Gunners’ only defeat of the season – Newcastle United and Manchester United, which they won.
There is also the fact Gyokeres did not have a full pre-season before joining, and missed team training at Sporting as he looked to force through a move to north London.
But Gyokeres is a win-now signing, who scored 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting in his two seasons at the Portuguese club.
His lack of goals are not a problem as Arsenal are winning at the moment, but he is a player who was brought in to get the team over the line as they try to win their first trophy since 2020.
Arteta has shown an appreciation for Gyokeres’ effort in the opening matches and heaped praise on the striker for his work that can go under the radar whenever the opportunity has presented itself.
In the aftermath of Arsenal’s win over Olympiacos, he called the forward’s performance “exceptional” and praised his “work-rate”.
When Arsenal signed Gyokeres, there was a feeling his presence would open up the space for the multiple attacking players Arsenal have behind him in Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Martinelli.
There have been flashes of those signs but Gyokeres will have wanted more from his first 10 games as Arsenal’s focal point, having scored in just two – a double in the 5-0 win over Leeds in August, and one goal in a 3-0 victory against Nottingham Forest mid-September.
