New data has emerged on Arsenal and one number in particular will reignite the debate around Viktor Gyokeres.
The £64million striker arrived from Sporting CP last summer having scored 97 goals in 102 games in Portugal, billed as the ‘win now’ signing Arsenal needed.
In terms of goals, he has delivered. 21 across all competitions, helping Arsenal to the Premier League title.
But the questions about his all-round play have never gone away. And now there is another number to go with them.
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According to analyst Scott Willis of Cannon Stats, Gyokeres has the worst dribble success rate of any Arsenal player with 30 or more dribble attempts in the Premier League this season, completing or drawing a foul from just 20% of his attempts.
For context, Eberechi Eze leads the squad at 58.8%, Gabriel Martinelli sits second at 56.8%, and Bukayo Saka third at 49.1%.
Gyokeres’ 20% is not just the worst in the Arsenal squad, it is significantly below everyone else.
And these technical limitations are plain for everyone to see, especially when compared to Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and even Mikel Merino.
Though he did improve in this aspect as the season went on, the alternatives to Gyokeres offer far more in terms of link-up play and technical involvement.
Gyokeres has proved to be effective in certain gamestates and against certain opposition, but he can be bypassed or nullified against the top defences.
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Paul Merson has argued that Arsenal need a different type of forward, specifically one with ‘electric’ pace and explosiveness.
He thinks that until they do that, they will struggle to truly bridge the gap to PSG and be good enough to win the Champions League.
This new dribbling data only reinforces that.
If Arsenal do bring in any of their main transfer targets — Julian Alvarez, Bradley Barcola, Morgan Rogers — they will certainly add to the team’s threat in this department, among others.
The quietly interesting footnote in the data, though, is Martinelli’s number. A 56.8% success rate, second only to Eze, in a season that has widely been considered disappointing by his own standards. Certainly in terms of goals.
Arsenal are reportedly willing to sell Martinelli, but that number might be at least worth a moment’s pause before they wave him off too readily.
Viktor Gyokeres has been incredibly useful for Arsenal. He helped Arsenal win the league, ultimately.
But perhaps to reach the very top in Europe, the upgrade conversation is one that Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta are probably already having.
The data, at least, suggests they probably should be.
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