Viktor Gyokeres proved some of his doubters wrong with a fine goal for Arsenal against Inter Milan.
The Sweden international has been under enormous pressure in recent months for not living up to all the hype in front of goal.
Many people criticised Gyokeres and even called for him to be dropped, and Mikel Arteta did just that in the Champions League at the San Siro.
The Spanish manager also made a comment before the game that makes us feel he doesn’t fully think Gyokeres – or any other Arsenal striker – is at an elite level.
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Mikel Arteta’s comment about Wayne Rooney must have annoyed Arsenal star Viktor Gyokeres
Viktor Gyokeres was Arsenal’s marquee summer signing.
Yes, Eberechi Eze cost more than him, and Martin Zubimendi was the player Arteta had been chasing for many years, but the Swede was viewed as the missing piece.
However, things haven’t fully gone to plan for Gyokeres or other Arsenal strikers, and Arteta’s comment suggests that.
While in conversation with Theo Walcott on Amazon Prime Video Sport UK, the Arsenal boss was asked if he would get into the current side.
As he seemed hesitant to answer, Walcott asked the same question about himself. Arteta laughed and replied: “Maybe a few minutes.”
Then, out of nowhere, the Spaniard pointed at Wayne Rooney and said: “He would get in!”
That could well be a bit of banter, and there is no debate over the fact that the Manchester United star would start week in, week out in this Arsenal side.
However, for Arteta to say that after spending a fortune on Gyokeres, who was the most prolific striker on the planet in his two years at Sporting CP, suggests that he is not fully happy with his centre-forward.
If we were in the Swede’s shoes, we would be fuming, but Gyokeres did his talking on the pitch with a fantastic goal to seal the win for Arsenal on Tuesday night.
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Gyokeres will be the first one to admit that he should be scoring more goals, but the amount of criticism he has been getting is a bit unfair.
We can talk about the work he does off the ball, the way he frees up space for his teammates and helps stretch the opposition, but people should also start speaking about the adaptation process.
It’s never easy for a player coming from a foreign league to hit the ground running in the Premier League. Nobody has really done that this season.
In fact, Hugo Ekitike is the only summer signing across the English top-flight who has netted more goals than Gyokeres.
The Liverpool star has scored 11 in 27 games in the four major competitions of the season, while Gyokeres has managed just two fewer in the same number of fixtures.
When you look at it that way, Gyokeres’ return is not that bad, is it?
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