After a slow start to life at Arsenal, Viktor Gyökeres is now slowly establishing himself as one of their most impressive players this season under Mikel Arteta. Prior to the current Premier League season, the general consensus for the past year or 2 was that an elite target-man striker was the final missing piece of Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side to finally complete their long process and win that Premier League title.
When Gyökeres was signed last year by Arsenal for €63.5 million from Sporting, the excitement was through the roof from Arsenal fans. Some fans even went as far as to claim that the Swedish striker was going to score more goals than Erling Haaland this season and win the Premier League Golden Boot season. Although Gyökeres didn't hit such high levels in his debut Premier League season, we are now slowly seeing the elite player in him, and one that has undoubtedly been a game-changer that could give Arsenal their much-awaited Premier League title.
Gyökeres first season at Arsenal - From challenging start to now a fan favourite
In his final season at Sporting, Gyökeres scored 54 goals and provided 13 assists in 52 appearances across all competitions. Some fans took these numbers too seriously and started comparing to Erling Haaland when Arsenal signed him. They had forgotten the important fact that he was recording those numbers in the Portuguese, which are levels below the Premier League.
Gyökeres himself got to experience first-hand the difference in the so-called levels we mentioned above. The first few months of his Arsenal career saw him struggle to score goals, or even put up decent performances from open play in most games. On one hand, many football fans started labelling him as a flop, while another section defended the player and claimed how his movements and Link-up have been helping other Arsenal players play better and hence improve them as a collective.
Fast forward to the present, the second category of fans have the last laugh now, as Viktor Gyökeres is now turning into one of Arsenal's most important players with every passing week. The fact that we are seeing the best of him this season during the most crucial final phase of the season is a huge boost for both Mikel Arteta and the club. If you look at the stats of Gyökeres this season, he has now scored 6 Premier League goals in his last 7 league appearances. The latest was against Everton at the very end, as he came from the bench and became the game-changer for Arsenal.
The Gyökeres we see at the beginning of the season and the Gyökeres we see now are 2 completely different players. This current version is one full of confidence and aggression. With Arsenal competing for multiple major honours during this crucial phase of the season, an in-form Gyökeres has a huge chance making the difference for them during the remainder of this season.
The best of Gyökeres is yet to come
While Viktor Gyökeres may not have immediately matched the huge expectations placed upon him after his big-money move, he is gradually proving his value at Arsenal. His growing influence in Mikel Arteta’s system shows why the club invested heavily in him, and if his development continues at this rate, Gyökeres could very well become one of the greatest ever Arsenal strikers of the club's modern history.
