Gabriel Martinelli has boldly claimed that Viktor Gyokeres can score up to ’40 goals a season’ for Arsenal after he blanked against Olympiakos.
Gyokeres was unable to get on the scoresheet against the Greek side in the Champions League – and has scored just three goals across his first nine games for the Gunners in all competitions.
Two of those goals came in the Premier League win over promoted side Leeds United in August – at home – and even then, one of those was from the penalty spot.
Gyokeres’ only other goal for Arsenal was in the top-flight victory over Nottingham Forest and he’s failed to score across the Gunners’ last five matches in all competitions.
Arsenal signed the Sweden international striker from Portuguese club Sporting CP in a deal worth up to £64m in the summer transfer window.
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Gyokeres scored an incredible tally of 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting -but has struggled with the step up to the Premier League thus far.
Despite that, Martinelli is backing Gyokeres to hit the same levels as Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah and score 40 goals in a single season.
‘We are really happy with him,’ Martinelli said when quizzed about Gyokeres.
‘We trust him. We know his qualities and he’s one of the top strikers in the world right now.
‘We are trying to give him the confidence to score and to do his best on the pitch to help us.
‘It’s really good to play with Martin [Odegaard] there because he’s always trying to find you, when we make the movement.
‘And for Viktor as well, his qualities, he likes to go in behind and attack the opposition’s box.
‘So, I think him playing with Martin as well is going to be good for him. We are going to try to give him the ball as much as possible to make him score, I don’t know, 30 or 40 goals a season.’
Meanwhile, Martinelli has spoken about his playing time this season, with the Brazilian battling the likes of Eberechi Eze for a regular starting spot on the left wing.
‘I feel good,’ he added. ‘It’s the same in the national team for me. I’m not going to complain to have Vini and Rodrygo and Raphinha playing with me. I’m really happy to have them there and happy to have the players that we have here as well.
‘With the signings that we brought in, we’ve got a huge squad now. So let’s try to use this squad, because it’s a long season, everyone knows it and sometimes we have injuries and with a big squad, we have more opportunities to win the game.
‘We play for Arsenal. We have to use every single one that is available. So, if someone gets injured, we’re going to try to use someone else. This is why we have a huge squad right now.
‘I mean, I want to play. I want to start every single game. And as I said, I’m going to help the team as much as possible. The manager is the one that takes the decision. We have to respect him. And when I have the opportunity, I always try to give my best.’