Arsenal star Viktor Gyokeres has repeatedly made the headlines recently, but for the wrong reasons.
The Swede was always in the news at his previous club, Sporting CP, because he was consistently the match-winner. He was the most prolific striker in Europe then.
Since joining Arsenal, Gyokeres hasn’t scored as much, and that, unsurprisingly, has led to a lot of criticism from some pundits and the media.
Now, Paul Scholes has shared his two cents on the situation.
Will Viktor Gyokeres turn it around like Thierry Henry did? If not, why?
Paul Scholes says Arsenal only signed Viktor Gyokeres because nobody else was available
The Viktor Gyokeres transfer saga dominated the news in the summer.
The striker had a gentleman’s agreement with Sporting to leave the club, but following the departure of their sporting director, their president made things hard.
Gyokeres went on strike to join Arsenal, and after a lot of negotiations, Andrea Berta struck a deal to bring him to North London.
The excitement level among the fan base went through the roof at the time, but the striker hasn’t quite scored as many goals as people expected.
That has become a concern, but what is even more worrying is Scholes’ theory behind Arsenal’s move to sign Gyokeres.
The Manchester United legend believes that the Gunners only signed the Swede because there wasn’t another option on the market.
“I think he was the last one available,” Scholes said when asked why Arsenal signed Gyokeres on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
READ MORE: There was another striker Arsenal could’ve signed instead of Viktor Gyokeres and he’s now flying
If you could go back in time and sign another striker for Arsenal instead of Viktor Gyokeres, who would it be and why?
Paul Scholes is wrong about Arsenal and Viktor Gyokeres – here’s why
Saying that Gyokeres was Arsenal’s last option is a ridiculous statement.
The Gunners were interested in Benjamin Sesko at the same time as the Swede, while Andrea Berta also had Hugo Ekitike as his third-choice option.
Ollie Watkins was available at Aston Villa too, as were several other strikers in England and abroad for Arsenal to sign.
The Premier League leaders didn’t choose Gyokeres because he was the last one available; they chose him because he was the one they wanted after weighing up all the options.
Scholes couldn’t be more wrong with his assessment.
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