Thierry Henry says Viktor Gyokeres ‘should be perfect’ for Arsenal but has called for patience with the £64m summer signing.
Mikel Arteta was desperate to sign a new striker this summer and sanctioned Arsenal’s deal for ex-Sporting star Gyokeres.
Arsenal considered new Manchester United signing Benjamin Sesko earlier in the summer before putting their faith in Sweden international Gyokeres.
Gyokeres enjoyed two brilliant seasons at Sporting, scoring 97 goals in 102 appearances, and will hope to enjoy more success at the Emirates Stadium.
Henry, the best Arsenal striker in history, has high hopes for Gyokeres and says he looks to be a ‘perfect match’ for what the Gunners require.
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However, Henry insists the move might not ‘click straight away’ and has urged Arsenal fans to be patient as Gyokeres adapts to a new club and Premier League football.
‘It’s always unfair because when I talk about a striker, it brings an unnecessary pressure, sometimes, because whenever I say something it goes above and beyond,’ the Premier League legend told Betway.
‘What I would say about Gyokeres is that you saw his goal against Athletic Club the other day. That instinct and understanding to anticipate the cross, a great header with soft touch to guide it to the other side of the goal – he is a proper No. 9. That’s the goal of a 9.
‘He is not a Firmino type of 9 that’s going to drop into midfield. He wants to be in the box, in between the posts, and he said it himself – please put the ball in the box and serve me.
‘You have a guy that’s a killer in the box – numbers don’t lie – and you have a team that create a lot of chances, so it should be the perfect match, but you have to also understand that sometimes it doesn’t click straight away.
Why Viktor Gyokeres could struggle at Arsenal
Viktor Gyokeres has widely been described as the final piece of the jigsaw for an Arsenal side that have come agonisingly close to winning the Premier League. But the same was said about Romelu Lukaku upon his return to Chelsea in 2021 and we know how that worked out.
Gyokeres’ stats for Sporting were incredible but Darwin Nunez enjoyed similar success in Portugal before underwhelming in the Premier League. It’s taken a fair while for Gyokeres, 27, to earn a move to one of Europe’s top five leagues. This time two years ago, in fact, he had just spent his fourth successive season in the Championship, scoring a respectable but far from remarkable 21 goals in 46 games.
He’s an upgrade on Kai Havertz but don’t expect mind-blowing returns from a player who has been branded a ‘gamble’ by the likes of Paul Scholes and Gary Lineker. ‘I don’t think he’s the guy,’ Rio Ferdinand even said shortly after his £64m move to north London was announced. Mikel Arteta doesn’t get too many signings wrong but it was him, remember, who pushed to sign Raheem Sterling last summer.
Arsenal were torn between signing Gyokeres or Benjamin Sesko earlier in the summer. Time will tell if they made the right decision.
Louis Sealey, Metro Deputy Sports Editor
‘What you want is people to be patient with him, and what is annoying right now is that people are not that patient anymore.
‘They want the guy to perform straight away, score goals straight away and make us win straight away, which doesn’t happen often.
‘He already was in England, let’s not forget that. He was at Coventry, he couldn’t do it at Brighton, so you can see a guy who already knows what struggling is and comes back from that.
‘He’s more confident, and you can see from his body the way he’s looked after himself, the way he’s changed.
‘I love when people show me what they can do, and then I can talk. Right now, people love to talk before the performance.
‘I’m an Arsenal fan, I obviously hope he’s going to do well, bang goals for us, and guide us to a title, but he’s not going to do that alone.
‘We have seen that goals don’t always assure you a title. We’ve seen guys with mad numbers, but they didn’t win anything. The team around them has to be good.
‘From what I’ve seen from him and how he finishes, hopefully it’s going to be a great match and we can finally go back to lift that trophy. But as I’ve said, a lot of teams want to lift that.’
As Henry mentioned, Gyokeres scored his first goal for Arsenal in the pre-season friendly against Athletic Bilbao last week.
The prolific striker is expected to start at Old Trafford on Sunday when Arsenal kick-start their Premier League campaign against Manchester United.
Arsenal have also signed Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera and Christian Norgaard this summer.
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