Viktor Gyokeres has had a difficult start to life at Arsenal.
The Swede arrived in North London in the summer with big expectations, having scored 54 goals in 52 games across all competitions for Sporting last season.
Thus far for Mikel Arteta’s team, he’s managed to hit the back of the net just three times in ten appearances.
While Gyokeres has faced criticism for his performances and this goal return, there have been some encouraging signs in some of his recent displays.
Arsenal are ‘very happy’ with Viktor Gyokeres
Arsenal spent £63 million on Gyokeres, and it’s therefore reasonable for the Gunners to expect an immediate return on this investment.
While he has indeed picked up in recent matches, the holistic outlook on his start in North London is certainly that he hasn’t hit the ground running.
Three goals in ten matches isn’t a good enough return from a striker in one of the best teams in Europe, and thus, he needs to show more moving forward.
However, while the jury might be out externally, those within Arsenal are very content with what Gyokeres has done so far.
Speaking on the Beyond the Back Four Podcast, transfer expert Graeme Bailey revealed that Arteta is ‘delighted’ with the 27-year-old.
“Arsenal are very happy with him, and I think they have every right to be,” Bailey said.
“He’s changing what Arsenal are up front and I don’t think that front three has caught up with him yet. He is running that front line really, really well. He gave City a very tough game, he gave Liverpool a very tough game.
“Clearly, he’s not there with the goals at the minute, but I think he’s given them an extra dimension. I think Mikel Arteta is delighted with him.”
Viktor Gyokeres has undeniably helped Arsenal going forward
Bailey is right; while critics have every right to question Gyokeres’ output, he has undeniably added a new dimension to Arsenal’s attack.
The Gunners had become so accustomed to Kai Havertz or Mikel Merino dropping deep to facilitate the build-up that they’d arguably lost direct threat in behind the opposition’s backline.
As clunky as Gyokeres may look at times, he constantly runs in behind and into the channels, and the opposition defenders simply have to track these runs.
The former Coventry man occupying these spaces creates space for other attacking players to thrive, even if he often isn’t being found himself.
This has most clearly been seen with Bukayo Saka, who is no longer being marked by two players, and this is subsequently eliciting more from the winger.
At the moment, Arteta has every right to feel that the positives outweigh the negatives, particularly as Arsenal sit top of the league.
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