“Relentless and Driven” – Viktor Gyokeres is Arsenal’s new weapon of £ 64 million but will he deliver Premier League gardon?
Gunners has not lifted the trophy since 2004, but has come annoyingly close to the last three seasons.
Mikel Arteta’s side has finished second in the three consecutive campaigns and lost to Man City twice and Liverpool.
There is undoubtedly so much talent in this Arsenal team, but there has been a thing that fans have shouted about … an out and out striker.
Kai haveertz was their leading goal scorer last season in all competitions with 15, but no player in the Premier League got in double numbers.
It has not been for the need to try to get into a number nine.
Benjamin Sesko was their top goal last summer, but he ended up signing a new contract at RB Leipzig. Now he will be Manchester United’s new superstar after they hijacked Newcastle’s attempt to sign the 6ft5in man.
They even saw a bid of £ 60 million for Ollie Watkins rejected in January.
But in Gyokeres they have an absolute goal machine. The 26-year-old crushed an astonishing 97 goals in 102 matches for Sporting in just two seasons.
Before that, he struggled the championship with Coventry. There is no doubt that he is ready to make the biggest step in his career.
Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz’s differences
Gyokere’s former teammate Ben Sheaf, who is the current Coventry captain and played 80 times together, lifted the lid on how hungry the Swedish striker is to get goals.
Sheaf joined the Talksport breakfast: “Playing with Vik and knowing him as a person, I think he will enjoy the challenge. He definitely has the attribute to influence there.
“He gives Arsenal something that they may not really have at the moment in the squad they have. I would definitely support him to influence.
“They have shouted for a real number nine. Hafertz has done a fantastic job up there, but he is a different profile than VIK.
“He is the real number nine. Leading line, hungry to score and a real goal scorer. I think it’s something they’ve probably shouted about.
“Fans have definitely shouted for it over the past year or so.
“He can end both feet. When he was here he would always end the training and go and go absolutely crush balls.
“He would just like to end, end, always end after the training. He was very relentless, very driven and took a lot of his frustration out on the ball in finishing the drills.
“He was obviously good for us and you can say he was ready to move on and he was always looking to do bigger and better things.”
Viktor Gyokere’s attitude
Charlton striker Matty Godden knows more than most what it is like to play with Gyokeres.
The couple was Strikepartner’s 50 times on Coventry and the Gods highlighted his attitude as something that separates him.
He talked about Talksport -breakfast and said: “What he has done, probably since he entered Coventry, has been incredible to be fair.
“He came in on loans (from Brighton) and didn’t really do much, then we signed him that summer and he came back another animal.
“He is so fast, so powerful and probably most of him, he was so driven to continue and do something, and I think he probably did it again at Sporting.
“He has gone there and been like,” I am the principal, I will score 30, 40 goals this season and kick again. “I think he deserves his move when he gets it.”
Unstoppable gyoker
Brooke Norton-Cuffy is another former Coventry teammate who gave Talksport insight into what it was like to play with the high striker.
He revealed that the extreme lengths that opponents would go in an attempt to keep him quiet, but would often have little or no effect.
Norton-Cuffy told Hawksbee & Jacobs: “It was teams that put two, three players on him and he managed to hit them or find a way to score. Just create chances from nothing and not just skill, his mental side of the game.
“You can see that he is hungry, but if he does not score, he is not happy. For example, in practice, small -sided games if his team loses you do not want to go near him a little.
“So it’s just a winning mentality that Gyok has to win things.”
He added: “VIK is powerful. He is 6’3” and he can move, change direction quickly.
“He can run, he can beat you and then when he creates these chances normally also puts them away.
“He’s just a handful, just a really big handful and a good fit for us.”
Can Viktor Gyokeres shoot Arsenal to the title?
There is a school school that Arsenal needs another signing and one that helps Gyokeres to flourish.
Gunners has been solid in defense and has strengthened the midfield with the signs of Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard.
However, it has been conversations to recruit another creative player and Arsenal is strongly interested in Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze.
Talksport understands that Eze’s release clause of £ 68 million has now expired, but it has not excluded an Arsenal bid.
His best position is like a number 10 – currently occupied by Martin Odegaard and Ethan Nwaneri.
However, Gunners sees him as a multifunctional attacker who can also play on the left.
The left wing was something of a problem for Arteta last season with Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, who both failed to deliver consistently.
Arsenal Podcaster Clive Palmer told Inside Goners why Eze could be the perfect fit.
He said: “Look at some of the pre-season games that I thought some of our technical ability on the ball was quite low, whether it is before the season and we have heavy legs etc.
“You are looking for more techniques and Eze’s technical ability is really, really high
When the ball comes in his feet, everything changes. People trust him with the ball, so they start moving.
“For me, much of our lack of creativity is down on our lack of movement. Why don’t we have enough movement? Because we don’t have enough technical quality on the ball, so you are waiting for it to come back to you. But when players can beat people you start moving, you start flowing and I want more of these players in the club.”
Arsenal has another game before the season against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday at the Emirate before a trip to Old Trafford to meet Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United for their Premier League opener.