Opinion: Viktor Gyökeres Shows Arsenal He Can Create as Well as Score

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·12. August 2025

Opinion: Viktor Gyökeres Shows Arsenal He Can Create as Well as Score

Arsenal’s marquee signing of the summer featured prominently in only two games ahead of the start of the new campaign. A deal for Viktor Gyökeres was announced as quickly as possible, mostly for integration purposes. The big Swede featured in our last two friendlies, finding the back of the net against Athletic Club following a quiet display against Villarreal.

Concerns regarding our ability to play with a conventional number nine began to surface following the encounter with the Yellow Submarines, but the performance against Athletic Club would have gone a long way to dispel such concerns and instill confidence ahead of the United game. Aside from his goal, Gyökeres impressed with his hold-up play and dribbling. Analysing his game further, I really think he has the capacity to be a creative outlet for the Gunners.

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Under-appreciated creative quality

When links to the Swede initially began to surface, a standout quality stuck out to most. His running statistics were exceptional at Sporting and he used them to great effect, scoring a high number of goals from runs in behind the opposition’s defence. Despite his bulky physique, he is deceptively rapid, running through defences like a battering ram.

This quality was expected to add something new to the Arsenal frontline, but its usefulness might have been underestimated. Against Villarreal and Athletic Club, the Swede’s runs through the channels were picked out on several occasions and instead of shooting from a tight angle most of the time, Gyökeres chose to cut the ball back. Despite the small sample size, this shows he has the potential to be a viable creative outlet.

(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

The numbers to back it up

In fact, he has always been a creative outlet, but the attention has been focused on his incredible goalscoring record in the last two campaigns. Despite scoring 97 goals in his two seasons with Sporting, the former Coventry man also provided 26 assists, 14 in his debut campaign and 12 in his last. Looking further back to his final campaign with Coventry, Gyökeres also registered 12 assists in addition to a goal tally of 22.

This will be a useful asset, but only if we can capitalise on it. None of his cut-backs bore any fruit against the aforementioned duo, particularly due to the lack of box crashers or, more specifically, enough bodies in the box. The utilisation of Declan Rice and Zubimendi in a double pivot could also make it less effective considering there will be fewer players attacking the box in theory. Nonetheless, it will prove to be a very useful asset in my view.

Viktor Gyökeres was brought in to score goals, but he definitely has the ability to provide a lot of assists as well.

Thoughts, Gooners?

Benjamin Kenneth

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