Arsenal coaches are convinced that one player has ‘unlocked’ Mikel Arteta’s team

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Arsenal’s coaching staff believe Viktor Gyokeres has unlocked Mikel Arteta’s team this season, Arsenal Insider understands.

Gyokeres arrived for £63 million in the summer from Sporting, after having scored 54 goals in 52 games across all competitions last term.

While he’s only managed to find the back of the net six times in 14 appearances for the Gunners, he has led the line for the team, who are four points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Staff members at London Colney are enthused by the Swede’s contributions thus far, and are convinced that Arsenal can still go up another level.

• READ MORE: Viktor Gyokeres’ biggest criticism is actually a positive for Arsenal, it was proven vs Sunderland

What Arsenal coaching staff are saying about Viktor Gyokeres behind-the-scenes

Gyokeres has been berated in the media for some of his performances, particularly earlier in the season when he was struggling to get to grips with the intensity of the Premier League.

However, as the campaign has progressed, he’s started to find his feet in a red and white shirt, netting a brace against Atletico Madrid and a strike against Burnley before sustaining a muscular injury.

That said, it’s his work outside of his goals that has arguably been more impressive and valuable. The 27-year-old’s tireless off-the-ball movement has created space for other Arsenal players, while his relentless pressing from the front has been crucial to the Gunners’ defensive stability.

These endeavours have been greatly appreciated internally at Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta’s coaching staff particularly delighted with the way Gyokeres is performing.

Graeme Bailey told Arsenal Insider that the Spaniard’s coaches think that the striker has ‘unlocked’ the Gunners.

“Arsenal coaches behind the scenes are like, ‘we know exactly what he’s doing for us’. Arsenal coaching staff think that there’s still so much more to come from this Arsenal team because they’re still getting used to Gyokeres and all the space he’s providing,” Bailey said.

“They think the midfield are latching on to it. They still think there’s another gear that they can go to. Gyokeres has unlocked them.

“It’s almost like, he’s not a cheat code, but he’s unlocked another level for Arsenal. It’s exactly what they were planning, and they’re not patting themselves on the back, but they firmly thought that this would happen, and they think it has.”

Viktor Gyokeres’ statistics 2025/26

Ultimately, some level of criticism of Gyokeres is not unreasonable.

While his off-the-ball attributes have helped Arsenal, he was ultimately still signed to score goals, and his numbers in that aspect aren’t good enough at the moment to justify the price tag the Gunners paid for him.

Managing just 2.14 shots per 90 minutes and accumulating just 0.43 expected goals per game, he needs to find himself in dangerous goal-scoring positions more frequently than he currently is.

Meanwhile, his creative numbers aren’t near the level they were in Portugal, and he could still offer a lot more in this area of the game.

For Sporting, he’d regularly peel into wide channels to receive the ball before driving to the by-line and cutting the ball back for a teammate. He’s done little of this in an Arsenal shirt, and it’s up to Arteta to find a way to unlock this from him.