Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and striker Viktor Gyokeres (Photo by Justin Setterfield, Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Arsenal must be beginning to regret their move to sign Viktor Gyokeres this summer after his apparent struggle to adapt to the Premier League.
Gyokeres played a major role for former club Sporting Lisbon, scoring an incredible 97 times in 102 games over two seasons.
This prompted Arsenal to pay £64m to sign the Sweden international from Sporting last summer (fee per BBC Sport), and the deal looks to be an interesting one to give Mikel Arteta a more natural goalscorer than other strikers such as Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
Arsenal will now be questioning whether this was the right decision, however, as Gyokeres has failed to impress since arriving in what is clearly a very competitive league.
Viktor Gyokeres for Arsenal this season vs Sporting last season
Gyokeres needs to improve quickly, because even if he couldn’t score as many goals at Arsenal as he did at Sporting, his numbers so far have been below the team’s expectations.
See below for key stats comparing the 27-year-old’s form for Arsenal this season compared to his performance at Sporting last term…
| Viktor Gyokeres | Games | Goals | Goals per game |
| Sports 24/25 | 52 | 54 | 1.03 |
| Arsenal 25/26 | 24 | 7 | 0.29 |
Spending big money on someone who has never played in the Premier League was probably always going to be a bit of a gamble, so would Arsenal have chosen to go all out on someone who has already shown he can do it at this level?
Because a few months ago that’s what almost happened when they tried to sign Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa.
The Englishman has 82 goals in 205 Premier League appearances for Villa, and BBC Sport reported last January that the Gunners were trying to sign him for £60m.
That’s not a huge difference in terms of pay, but it’s still very little for the safest option to come in and give the AFC the goal threat it needed.
Was Ollie Watkins done for Arsenal?
Watkins has been a key player in this impressive Villa side, although it is worth noting that his own form has dipped slightly this season.
The 30-year-old has seven goals in 28 games in all competitions so far this season, so it doesn’t look like he’ll match the 17 he got last year, and he probably won’t match the 27 he got last year.
However, if you look at other key metrics, like in the graph below, you can also see that Watkins provides better round play than Gyokeres…
There are no guarantees in football, with Gyokeres alongside other big-name signings such as Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz in disappointing performances this season, but Watkins looks like he could be an option worth considering for Arsenal.
The Villa front man may offer the same type of goal threat, but he is outmatched by defenders in the number of touches he takes and the chances he creates for his teammates.
Arsenal eventually decided the deal wasn’t worth it and made a move for Gyokeres, but how long will they live to regret it?
