Arsenal entered the summer window with a clear list of priorities, and at the top was the signing of a traditional centre-forward. After finishing second for a third successive season, attention quickly turned to the transfer market, with rumours swirling around several key targets. In the search for a striker, Benjamin Šeško and Viktor Gyökeres dominated headlines. Šeško appeared to be the first-choice option, but fast forward a month and the Gunners are now close to signing Gyökeres instead.
The club has reportedly agreed a deal in principle to sign the Swedish international, though final terms remain unresolved due to disagreements over the add-ons structure. Nonetheless, the forward is still widely expected to join this summer.
Gyökeres has flaws, but Arsenal’s system offers support
Viktor Gyökeres will bring quality to the forward line, but some concerns have been raised about his suitability for the Premier League. Questions remain around his aerial strength and ball control, especially given the pace and physicality of English football. Despite scoring 97 goals in two seasons for Sporting, even the most optimistic Arsenal fan might hesitate to expect those numbers in red and white.
However, there is reason for optimism. Supporters should take confidence from Mikel Arteta’s tactical adaptations over the past two years, particularly the way Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino were repurposed into effective centre-forwards.
Arteta’s tactical tweaks have yielded results
Kai Havertz was initially signed to play in midfield but, after a mixed start, he was redeployed as a striker. He ended his debut season with 14 goals. Last term, he had already scored 15 goals by early February before injury ruled him out for most of the remainder of the campaign, aside from two substitute appearances. His absence was keenly felt, a testament to his growing influence in the number nine role.
Mikel Merino also deserves credit, stepping up as a makeshift striker in Havertz’s absence. The midfielder scored seven goals and provided four assists in that role. Arteta’s decision-making and player management in both cases deserves recognition.
The point is simple. If two midfielders, operating as emergency strikers, could perform well and score regularly under Arteta, then there should be confidence in a natural finisher like Gyökeres. While he may not be a complete forward, he has the tools to succeed in this Arsenal setup. With superior players around him and a proven manager guiding him, the Swede could elevate his game and build on his prolific form in Portugal.
At 27, he may not have significant room for development, but certain rough edges will surely be smoothed out under Arteta’s watch. Football is not linear, and there are no guarantees. But if Havertz and Merino could deliver, there is every reason to believe Gyökeres could thrive.
Would love to get your opinion on this. Do the performances of Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino at centre-forward justify the belief that Viktor Gyökeres will bang?
Benjamin Kenneth
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And that’s why Madueke will prove to be the better deal – a tactical alternative and higher-quality depth than our other wingers.
The sooner we get the No9 situation sorted the better, add Eze and we’re cooking on gas. Roll on the new season.
Well written Article .The last time at Coventry City Gyokeres scored 21 goals before leaving for Sporting and banging goals. Conventry is English Championship and we understand it’s as physical as Epl though not with many stars.
We have seen many good CF in championship promoted to Epl and do very well. Gyokeres stats apart from Sporting but Sweden national team gives reason for optimism. He even scored more goals for Sweden than Issak.
Good CF don’t become bad overnight.
Yes, people ague that the likes of DNunez and BDost were both prolific in Portugal only to become flops in big leagues, but facts/stats shows their numbers are incomparable to Gyokeres. Imo, he would be worth the buy.
And Gyokeres is a “no half decent striker”. He is the real deal. He did not only perform in the Portuguese league but did excellent in the championship with Coventry.
The Championship is a demanding and competitive league and players who establish themselves in the Championship build crucial foundations of experience and resilience that can aid their transition to the Premier League.
Most on here would prefer Isak to Gyokeres but imo VG is the best so far.
Gyökeres
UCL – 8 games, 6 goals
Europa league – 9 games, 5 goals
Sweden – 26 games, 15 goals
Isak
UCL – 8 games, 1 goal
Europa league – 17 games, 3 goals
Sweden – 52 games, 16 goals
Wow, those comparisons with Isak are interesting. He’s comfortably outscored him everywhere.
Can we just bring in the man already and let the taste of the pudding be in the eating please…..The whole Gyokeres episode has become a nightmare for everyone most so for the player himself
I’m not overly impressed the way Arsenal have handled this matter. Yes they may have the facts that we don’t, but one would have thought that once they made up their minds that he was the preferred option, they should have sped things up to get the deal done. All this haggling over add ons and add ins don’t make any sense to my ignorant mind
Now the player has been forced to return to training at Sporting. I can only imagine the emotional stress he must be going through!.
I think Sporting is the difficult party in all this. It’s not the first time they are doing this. Look into the Bruno Fernandez saga where the player reportedly had to make an angry call to the Sporting President.
Then there was the Pedro Porro where Sporting reneged on an earlier agreement with Tottenham. You can blame Arsenal/Berta/Arteta all you want but the evidence suggests Sporting are notoriously difficult to do business with.
Totally agree with you on the half decent striker banging in goals for this Arsenal team. I am not worried about the striker desire, what bothers me are the injury list and low goals output from the supporting midfielders and forwards. They were far better in 23/24 season
This is true – we lost a lot of strength and momentum through the impacts of Ødegaard and Saka’s injuries (as well as the right-sided defenders behind them that helped form a powerful attacking channel). Martinelli struggled without Ødegaard too, and the change to pairing with the more defensive Rice instead of the more attacking Xhaka directly coincides with his drop-off in form and finishing. I expect we’ll be better in midfield and on the right this season – especially in terms of accelerating transitions – so if those two are back to their best, goals will come.
I disagree. Aubameyang was a world-class striker, but he failed to win EPL and EL with Arteta’s tactics because he wasn’t strong enough to do hold-up play and win aerial duels consistently
Havertz and Merino aren’t as good as Aubameyang was in shooting and aren’t as pacey either, but they are stronger than Auba, more hardworking and better playmaker than our former captain
This is why I’d prefer a physically-dominant CF like Sesko than a goal-stat chaser like Ronaldo and Kane
Except you didn’t mention the part where Auba wasn’t in as good a team as we have currently. I’m not sure even Haaland would have won the EPL with the teammates Auba had back then.
I wonder how he expected auba to win arsenal the league with that squad while competing against one of the peak city sides, anyway his opinion
@Gai, As much as a physically dominant or prolific Striker could help Arsenal in winning Epl or UCL, I think the reasons for not winning in a while is due to different factors. We have had different dynamic CF including VParcy, Giroud, Auba and Laccazet yet we cans short. No thanks to PepG team form
Imo, wether we have Sesko or Gyokeres is fine by me. Arteta is who I think should adapt his formation/technical abilities to win at least a major trophy this season. The way Marresca set up Chelsea to beat PSG and win Club world cup was quite impressive.
This season is all Arteta has to prove he is good enough to continue as Arsenal coach.
I’m afraid just looking at one aspect without considering the whole picture demonstrates really poor insight.
Lest you forget Arsenal have also beaten PSG in the past year. The way Arteta set up Arsenal to beat PSG was also quite impressive.
The fact is that at the current time several of the top level European teams are quite closely matched.
Right. And in the Premier League, Arsenal has the best record against the rest of the “top 6” over the last 2 seasons:
Arsenal
W11 D9 L0
Liverpool
W8 D9 L3
Man City
W6 D8 L6
Chelsea
W7 D6 L7
Arteta is obviously tactically smart even if he’s annoying at times. If he needs to change formation he will. We’re competitive at the highest level now. We just have to hope the reinforcements we desperately needed will be enough, and the cards will fall our way.
So Gyokeres is not a ” physically dominant CF” Like those you mentioned?
Any half decent striker………………………., yeah, Gab J. stats; 64 EPL games in 3 seasons , return of 11,4, & 3 goals. Either Mikel’s system is flawed or he is less than “a half decent striker” or should be blame the matchday ball? Just saying!
I think on balance the club have made the right choice. I think he will hit the ground running and I can just him bagging a brace against United He’s not going to score us 30 league goals a season, but he’s likely to get 20, put in a shift, support the team and bag a few crucial goals. Is he that 5% more we need to win the league, probably, but that depends on many other things also going our way next season and not the way of our competition.
Spot on. A solid striker is an augmentation that improves our, not a holy grail that automatically wins us everything. I expect he’ll add about 20 goals, perhaps more. It seems like he’ll have the most impact against the low block teams further down the table that we always struggle with. They typically don’t have the best defenders and he can muscle his way through.
I would say a certain former midfielder was also allowed to “bang” under Arteta.
Arteta needs to answer some questions…
He’s the right choice for Arteta because he was the cheapest option and he’s also the oldest of the options.
One thing not mentioned here, but alluded to by Soji above, is critical. Last season we lost four of our main attacking players for long periods, reducing potency dramatically.
So regardless of the striker (and our bench options), we need our best players fit and firing, to feed them with opportunities. This is where I think Martinelli also could improve his impact this year. Maybe the addition of Gyokeres – as a striker who prefers to attack from the left – will add support in that area and present more one-twos and passing opportunities for Nelli? He’s been struggling since Xhaka left, and Arteta forced him to play wider to accomodate Rice, rather than dipping inside as he did in his most successful period.