Should Arsenal fans be panicking about Viktor Gyokeres after Gabriel Jesus comeback

The jury is just about still out and waiting to deliver its verdict, but the sight of Gabriel Jesus instantly adding a touch of vim and vigour to Arsenal’s forward line after nearly 12 months out will hardly have aided Viktor Gyokeres and the case for his defence.

It does, though, appear certain that on the evidence of his first 18 appearances in Arsenal colours that the Sweden international does not represent the end of the north London club’s search for a prolific marksman.

Six goals from 18 appearances is by no means a disgraceful return, one that the likes of Benjamin Sesko and Alexander Isak may well be envious of at this stage of their respective careers at new clubs.

But to say Arsenal haven’t quite got what they were expecting, particularly having kept their powder dry for so long in their hunt for a new striker, would be an understatement.

Nobody was anticipating the second coming of Dennis Bergkamp upon his arrival, especially given he showcased much of what he was about when he passed his live audition, ruffling the feathers of Gabriel and William Saliba during last season’s Champions League acid test.

His fleeting appearances since returning from injury earlier this month have done little to dispel the fear that Arsenal have paid upwards of £60million for a player whose reputation was based on one good season in The Championship before he spent two years bullying hapless Portuguese defences into submission.

It may still be too early to press the panic button, especially given the supporting cast is now so varied and extensive that, injury permitting, Arteta has a man for almost every occasion.

But, with the January transfer window looming, the Gyokeres concerns serve as a timely reminder that only in exceptional circumstances can a single player change the trajectory of a club or even the course of a season.

This time last year, in the wake of Rodri’s injury and the then champions’ subsequent implosion, City were preparing to loosen the purse strings to the tune of £125m.

Of that batch of new recruits, only the rapidly improving Nico Gonzalez is currently what you would consider a first team regular and even that owes much to his former Ballon d’Or winning teammate’s latest injury setback.

Omar Marmoush may have delivered several spectacular highlights but he is some way down the Pep pecking order, Abdukodir Khusanov hasn’t started a Premier League game since late September and fair play if you’re aware of Vitor Reis’ existence. For the record, the Brazilian centre half is currently on loan at Girona.

Of course, as we are routinely reminded when a player from outside these shores fails to hit the ground running, adapting to the demands of a new league takes time. As such the likes of the aforementioned Gyokeres, Sesko, Xavi Simons and Florian Wirtz deserve a measure of patience.

Even when you recruit from within, however, it is no guarantee of success. Isak’s astonishing fall from grace cannot simply be explained away as a consequence of a disrupted pre-season, while Chelsea fans, like their Brighton counterparts before them, have been left wondering whether Joao Pedro is an out-and-out centre forward, support striker, or false nine.

Matheus Cunha has shown flashes of the talent he showcased when he was the big fish in the small pond at Wolves but, like so many of his colleagues, is getting to grips with Ruben Amorim’s beloved system. Even Eberechi Eze, north London derby hat-trick heroics aside, has some way to go before he proved beyond all doubt that it has, indeed, all worked out.

Patience, really, is the ingredient above anything else that any new signing requires but it is a commodity as Gyokeres, in particular, will find out that is in increasingly short supply.