It’s fair to say that Viktor Gyokeres has left a lot to be desired since he arrived at Arsenal from Sporting CP in the summer.
When the news broke that Gyokeres would sign for Arsenal, most fans were delighted, but a select few were sceptical.
The Swede scored 68 Liga Portugal goals in just two seasons at Sporting CP, which is exactly why the opinion was split.
For anyone, 68 league goals in two years is remarkable; however, it was because of the level of competition in which the goals were scored that scepticism set in.
It’s become clear that those who were concerned about whether Gyokeres’ numbers would translate to the Premier League were sadly right to have mixed feelings about the transfer.
Is it wild to think that Arsenal should sell Viktor Gyokeres after one season?
Only Wolves have a top goalscorer with fewer Premier League goals than Arsenal
When Gyokeres scored against Inter Milan at San Siro, everyone was desperate to see the striker continue his form when the Premier League returned.
Instead, the consensus from Arsenal’s defeat to Manchester United was that Mikel Arteta has a serious attacking problem in his squad.
Unfortunately, the numbers reinforce the claim, as after matchday three, it became apparent that only Wolverhampton Wanderers have a top goalscorer who has netted fewer goals than Arsenal’s top scorer.
Gyokeres and Leandro Trossard are tied on five league goals, and in the entire Premier League, only Wolves’ Mateus Mane (2) is his respective club’s top scorer with fewer than that.
Fill the blanks: Arsenal can only resolve this if they sign _______
For Gyokeres, the recipient of the Gerd Muller Trophy, which honours the best goalscorer in Europe, the numbers are astoundingly bad.
A £64m striker representing a club like Arsenal must be competing at the top of the goalscoring pile, but instead, Gyokeres is second-bottom.
Jamie Carragher thinks it’s abnormal how little Arsenal’s forwards are scoring, and he was right to raise the point, as when looking at the top scorers list, you’d have to scroll right to the bottom to find a representative from Arteta’s squad.
Arsenal might have to do something that’s never happened to win the Premier League
Gyokeres is under the microscope because he’s Arsenal’s striker, but the entire squad has to take responsibility for how poor the Gunners have been.
It’s not just responsibility that needs to be taken, but stark improvement too, as history tells us that Arsenal’s lack of open-play threat could cost them the title.
Will Arsenal break this unwanted record this season?
As of matchday 23, our percentage is 52.4% 😳
As of matchday 23, Arsenal’s percentage of goals from open play in the Premier League is a measly 52.4%.
To contextualise that figure, the lowest percentage of open play goals scored by a Premier League title-winning team is 65%.
If Arsenal are to win the league, they have two options: considerably improve or do something no other team has done.
Records are there to be broken, but not this one, as fans just want to see some exciting play from the Gunners in the final third – is that too much to ask?
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