Arteta ‘very excited’ with Gyokeres arrival after Newcastle win | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta says he is “super happy” to have Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal after signing from Sporting CP on Saturday.

The 27-year-old didn’t feature in the match but was present pitch side, greeting fans before the Gunners’ 3-2 win over Newcastle United in Singapore.

“We are super happy to have Viktor with us. It has been a long journey to get him over here,” he said.

“He has been incredible. It was very clear from the beginning where he wanted to play and how passionate I felt from day one when we first spoke.

“You can see the boys, you can see the environment as well, very excited with his arrival.”

When asked if he could make his debut as early as Thursday against Spurs, Arteta responded: “I think he hasn’t had a single training session with the team since the last game with Sporting when they became champions.

“We will assess him tomorrow. He has done all the medicals and he is looking good. But, to get him up to speed with the right levels of fitness is very important.

“We’re not going to stop him. We want him with us as quick as possible, but we will have to assess and the medical team will do that.”

Goals from Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard, along with a Alex Murphy own goal, cancelled out Anthony Elanga’s early strike and Jacob Murphy’s second-half effort. However, it was Max Dowman who continued to stand out, delivering another impressive cameo.

“It is special. What he has done today against this team, in the time that he had on the pitch, is something certainly not common to witness for a 15-year-old.

“We are extremely happy to have him. The environment that is around him, his family, the people at the club and around the club are super helpful because they put him in this position so early in his journey, having a real chance and a real presence when he plays for the first team,” Arteta said.

The Spaniard also provided an injury update on Riccardo Calafiori and explained the absence of new signing Cristhian Mosquera from the matchday squad, despite the defender being officially unveiled on Thursday.

“[Calafiori] said that he felt a little tweak. I don’t know how big it is, but hopefully not.”

“[Mosquera] needs to start to pick up fitness again. With him, he played in the U21 Euros and then didn’t really train with Valencia.

“That signing period was extended a little bit, and the conditions here are really tough. It’s a lot of information for him, a lot of physical demands that we put in. So we are going to have to manage him slowly,” Arteta confirmed.

Arsenal will conclude their preseason tour of Asia by facing rivals Spurs in Hong Kong on Thursday.