Ian Wright says if he’d start ahead of Viktor Gyokeres for Arsenal if he were in his prime right now
Ian Wright reflected on his glory years as he played a match that tested the Arsenal legend whether he would start for various current clubs.
Wright has previously said he would struggle to play under Mikel Arteta due to the strict structure players must adhere to in today’s game.
That being said, being the second highest scorer in Arsenal’s history, Wright certainly fancies his chances of representing some of the best clubs today.
In an interview with ESPN UK, the Arsenal legend was asked to answer yes or no whether, at his peak, he would start at some variation of Europe’s top clubs.
Ian Wright says he would start ahead of Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal in his prime
At his peak, nothing could stop Wright, who scored 185 goals over the years at Arsenal.
His former club appeared first during the TikTok for ESPN, where he confidently declared that if he was at his best, he would start ahead of Viktor Gyokeres as the Gunners’ striker.
Wright simply said ‘yes’ when Arsenal were mentioned and, interestingly, his answer was the same for all but one of the top Premier League clubs.
The former striker believes he would miss out on his move to Manchester City because of Erling Haaland, who is currently in remarkable form.
Aside from Man City, there were only two clubs the Arsenal icon didn’t root for, namely Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
By Wright’s own admission, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Haaland are at a higher level than he was at his peak, but not Gyokeres, nor Liverpool’s Alexander Isak.
Viktor Gyokeres’ first ten league matches for Arsenal compared to Ian Wright’s
Gyokeres has actually been the subject of discussion among former players recently.
Rio Ferdinand thinks he could hold his own against Gyokeres, and Wright thinks he would replace the Swede, but how far is the summer signing from where the Arsenal legend was when he first signed?
The answer is a very long way.
Wright took no time to impress at Arsenal, scoring a hat-trick on his league debut which led to him scoring 11 goals in his first ten league matches for the Gunners in 1991.
After ten games in the 2025/26 Premier League season, Gyokeres is down to four goals, which explains why Wright was so confident he would do it again against the Swede.
Gyokeres is no match for what Wright was, but can the £63million man improve on the legend’s 26-goal debut season in all competitions?