Viktor Gyokeres has had his struggles at Arsenal.
The Sweden international joined the Gunners from Sporting CP in the summer and was viewed by many as the final piece of Mikel Arteta’s puzzle.
Gyokeres started well, scoring three goals in his first four Premier League games, but since then, he has netted six in 23 appearances in all competitions.
Former Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe thinks he knows the reason why.
Is it wild to think that Arsenal should sell Viktor Gyokeres after one season?
Jermain Defoe says Viktor Gyokeres’ struggles at Arsenal are because of no pre-season
Viktor Gyokeres had a very difficult summer.
After helping Sporting CP win the double by scoring 54 times for them, he fell out with the club after they allegedly refused to honour a gentleman’s agreement.
It got so bad that Gyokeres refused to train with his teammates. He sat on the sidelines for weeks and pushed to leave the club.
He joined Arsenal at the end of July and had to get himself ready for the start of the new Premier League season, which was just a few weeks away.
Defoe, who knows a thing or two about being a striker, believes Gyokeres’ lack of pre-season training is the reason why he is struggling right now.
He said on Premier League Productions’ Team Talks: “I mean, Gabi Jesus, I love him. I’ve always liked him as a player. I like Havertz, and Gyokeres, he’s a goal scorer.
“It’s not happened for him this season for whatever reason. You know, he missed the pre-season. I think that’s a big factor.
“I think people don’t realise that when you try to hit the ground running.“
Will Viktor Gyokeres ever look this sharp in an Arsenal match? 👀
Andrea Berta should’ve wrapped up the Viktor Gyokeres deal early
Andrea Berta has received nothing but praise since he joined Arsenal, and rightly so. He has been magnificent.
However, if he had wrapped up the deal to sign Gyokeres a few weeks before he actually did, things could’ve been very different now.
Sporting began negotiations with a demand of €70 million (£60.2m) plus €10 million (£8.6m) in add-ons. [Guardian] Arsenal didn’t want to pay such a high fee, and that held up the deal for several weeks.
After a lot of back and forth between Sporting president Frederico Varandas and Arsenal director Berta, a deal was struck late in July.
Arsenal signed Gyokeres in a deal worth £64 million, including add-ons [BBC], which is just about £4 million less than what the Portuguese champions wanted in the first place.
One can only wonder how much better Gyokeres would’ve been if he had a full pre-season.
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