Simon Jordan believes one of Arsenal’s new signings is yet to fit into Mikel Arteta’s team.
The Gunners have experienced a mixed start to the new season as they look to integrate all of their new additions, winning three of their opening five Premier League matches.
Andrea Berta spent £250 million on eight players over the summer, with the Italian intent on supplying the Spaniard with the firepower required to compete on multiple fronts.
Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday, in a game which saw one of the new arrivals in N5 endure a particularly bad day.
Simon Jordan says Viktor Gyokeres is ‘yet to fit in’ at Arsenal
Arsenal signed Viktor Gyokeres for £63 million over the summer.
The Swede was brought in to help Arsenal reduce the goal-scoring gap between themselves and Liverpool, which was 17 goals in the league last term.
While he has found the back of the net three times thus far, Gyokeres also managed no shots for the third time this season against Manchester City.
The striker was dour in the huge clash at the Emirates, struggling to impose himself physically or make any meaningful impact inside the City box.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Simon Jordan said Gyokeres is ‘yet to fit in’ at Arsenal, although he did suggest that the player still needs to be given more time to acclimatise.
“I’m disinclined to, five or six games into the season, make an overall judgement,” Jordan said.
“You’ve got a new set of players coming in. Gyokeres is yet to fit into the framework that’s been played in a certain way for a number of years, and they’re adjusting to it.
“By the way, I don’t think Arteta spent the entire time telling everyone he needed a number nine. Everyone else spent the entire time telling Arteta that he needed a number nine, and he’s gone and got a number nine, because the [Kai] Havertz experiment has worked and not worked in equal measure.”
Viktor Gyokeres needs to start producing more for Arsenal
Gyokeres isn’t helping to quieten the accusations that he is a flat-track bully.
While he’s looked completely capable against the likes of Leeds and Nottingham Forest, the 27-year-old has not been at the pace against Manchester United, Liverpool or Manchester City.
Of course, playing against this level of opposition is difficult, but not managing a single shot in any of these games is concerning, and doesn’t bode well for the latter stages of the Champions League for the Gunners.
| Viktor Gyokeres’ Statistics vs Man City | |
| Minutes Played | 90 |
| Touches | 22 |
| Shots | 0 |
| Expected Goals | 0 |
| Key Passes | 0 |
| Accurate Passes | 6/11 (55%) |
| Touches in Opposition Box | 6 |
Gyokeres has been described as ‘brilliant’ in the past, but he’s yet to show this brilliance against the very best teams in the Premier League.
If this form continues against competent teams, then questions will have to be asked of the former Sporting CP man.
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