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Arsenal told Gyokeres won’t be able to help win PL title

By on August 19, 2025

Viktor Gyokeres Sporting Lisbon

Former striker-turned-pundit Troy Deeney has claimed that Viktor Gyokeres won’t be able to help Arsenal win the Premier League title.

After finishing second in the Premier League last campaign, it was widely suggested that the Gunners needed a new striker to win the league title. Therefore, Mikel Arteta’s side have decided to reinforce the centre-forward position by purchasing Gyokeres from Sporting CP in a £64m deal.

The Swedish international has been the most prolific goalscorer in Europe over the last two seasons. Therefore, it is not a surprise to see the North London club have decided to buy him despite initially trying to purchase Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig.

Gyokeres started Arsenal’s opening Premier League game against Manchester United on Sunday, and the 27-year-old had a quiet debut. Overall, Arteta’s side weren’t at their best; still, they managed to come away with a 1-0 win.

Now, on talkSPORT, Deeney says that he hasn’t been impressed by Gyokeres’ debut display, so he feels the former Sporting star won’t be able to guide Arsenal to win the Premier League title.

The former Watford striker even claimed that Kai Havertz might start more games as a centre-forward this campaign than Gyokeres.

Deeney said:

“Gyokeres, for me, isn’t the answer. I know he’s only one game in, and people will say he’s rusty, but if you look at his movement, the way he was running…

“There was an incident when he went through and stood on the ball. I think you are going to see Havertz start more games than Gyokeres over the course of the season.”

Gyokeres slammed after debut

Gyokeres didn’t have much preparation time during pre-season as he was on strike at Sporting to force a move, and at Arsenal, he had just two weeks of training before the start of this season. Therefore, he is expected to improve over the coming games.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t just Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and Declan Rice, who all had an average game for their standards on Sunday. Considering this was the first game of this season, perhaps they were rusty.

Meanwhile, following a 1-0 victory over United, Arsenal will welcome newly promoted side Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium next weekend before taking on title challenger Liverpool at Anfield just before the international break.