Is Viktor Gyökeres the striker Arsenal should sign?

During the Emirates era, it has been a long and testing period for us Arsenal fans. The last three years in particular, if we focus on the last 18-12 months, Arsenal have announced themselves as the new kids on the block. Everything is going to plan at Arsenal Football Club. We're getting the respect that we deserve and smiles on the fans' faces. Personally, I'm not too sure on the ETA, but it feels like we're on the highway and we're driving towards eventually winning major honours and consistently challenging for major honours, which is music to my ears. We're scoring a lot of goals, but many people would or wouldn't say, do we need a striker? Now, whether you do or don't believe Arsenal need a striker, I'm not too sure where you stand on that debate. But last season, we scored 88 goals, people, only bettered by Manchester City's 94. Then obviously you look to the season currently that we're undertaking, we're top of the Premier League goal-scoring charts. We have scored 70 goals. Liverpool have 65, Manchester City have 63. And this is all for a team that doesn't really have a prolific talisman in front of goal. And a team that we all remember December, couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. There's many games that come to mind. For me, it'd be West Ham at the Emirates. So do we really need a striker? Am I making this video for no reason? Or is it a thing where, you know, maybe the goals are masking fragilities in our team? I don't know, people. But our manager, Mikel Arteta, once said, and these comments have stuck with me, if you want to be a team that wins a title, you need to score 90 to 100 goals. Now we're flirting with that. You know, we've got Bakayo Saka and Martinelli and all of these great players, you know, Kai Havertz has found his goal-scoring touch. But I would ask the question, how many of these players go down as being goal-scorers? How many of them are known for goal-scoring, young and old? I would say the only one that you could probably bet on in August that's going to get double figures is Bakayo Saka, Odegaard, lovely player, Martinelli, lovely player, Kai Havertz finding his feet, Trossart Boula. But are any of them necessarily described as Gabriel Jesus as well? But are any of them necessarily described people as prolific? What if we brought in another attacker and have the best of both worlds so that the burden is eased, not just on the young boys in Martinelli and Saka, but it also enhances them? Now step forward, Mr. Victor Goquerres, 25 years of age, 22 goals in 24 appearances in the league with nine assists to match. He's been capped nine times by Sweden. He's powerful. He's fast. He has the ability to win fouls. He works the channels. He has a high technical level, and he links up very well with his attacking teammates. Again, I like him a lot. He'd probably be described to casual football fans, including myself, as a bit of a wild card. Signed for 20 million euros from Cometary City, he has taken the Portuguese La Liga by storm. In fact, where Sporting Lisbon are concerned people, he has actually been quite well in terms of scoring goals. He's got 14 assists and 36 goals in all comps. Added to that for Cometary City, he got 116 appearances and scored 43 times with 17 assists. At 25 years of age, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Is he here to stay? Has he been finally given a platform to exploit his talents? Is he hitting the prime age or is this just a red hot season? Or is it a bit of both? In fact, we'll never know people. Many people would say it's his first year. Maybe the jury's out. They're probably not convinced on spending 100 million euros on him. Neither am I. But for the price tag, it's clear to see why he's been linked with Arsenal and a lot of clubs. And in a day and age where us normal viewers of football can't really string together 10 decent strikers, whatever club would like to sign a striker, I do think he's a fantastic option. The more I do my research and the more I look at him, by all means, people, I'm not an expert on him. But the more I do my research, you could see how he would tie into Arsenal Football Club. And he's somewhat of a wildcard. I do believe when we talk about strikers, yes, the primary job is to score goals. But when you look at Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and Trossart, what have they all got in common? Yes, they're all intelligent. They've all got a technical high level. Obviously, they all play for Arsenal Football Club and have an ability to score goals. But if the barometer of being a clinical bagsman scoring 20 plus league goals as a minimum was what Mikel Arteta necessarily required, being devil's advocate, would any of them be playing up front? It's very important to notice people that it's all about the pressing, the defensive metrics, their intelligence, their link-up play. Almost being a striker in a Mikel Arteta system in itself is very selfless. You do have opportunities to score goals, but you're almost the target, you know, to attract defenders. And then the Sakas, the Martinellis, the Trossarts, Kai Havertz, these kind of players go under the radar and are allowed to strike when an opposition defence least expects it. So it's important to remember. Do I think he's perfect? No, but I do like him a lot. But let's get into it. Let's have it right. As honest football fans and specifically fans of Arsenal Football Club, we're just interested in the striker that's going to bag goals and add to the littered attacking talent we have around the squad. And know that in crucial moments, some defeats can be turned into draws, some draws can be turned into victories, ultimately more points on the board, goals win games. And obviously we hope we get into cup finals in what's left of this season and beyond and hope to know that we've got a player that we can rely on to go with everybody else. But it's probably naive to expect goals to be the Beal and Endle as stated earlier in the Mikel Arteta system. In fact, as much as I like Mikel Arteta, that's not just a luxury I can give to him. Even Manchester City's Harlan, his general play is not the best, but it's dramatically improved in his city days. Long gone are the days of strikers just standing in the area. They're, you know, as I always say, in the present day, goalies are the first attackers. The first defenders are actually the strikers. And to a degree, it is about what you're contributing when you are not necessarily bagging and scoring goals. And that's what's very interesting with him. Really. When you look at his open play passes at Sporting Lisbon, he's someone that gets involved in particular. He does pull out to the right hand channel, but he pulls over to the left hand channel quite a lot. And if you could imagine if he's playing as the lone striker, he pulls out to the left hand side to link up with Martinelli and the Kai Havertz, the other guards, the players that are known, Trossart even, the players that are known for making late runs at Arsenal. If they can exploit that space, then I think we're in business really and truly. And also when you look at his chances created when he starts passes, when he receives passes, once again, this is a striker that the more I do my research on his Sporting Lisbon and Coventry days, the more I have a lot of time for him people. And also as a striker, you want to see a striker having shots. He doesn't take too many shots outside the area. In the sample size you can see on screen, there isn't too many efforts that he takes from outside the area. But that is also, in my opinion, a source of encouragement. Naturally, Arsenal fans would be thinking and some football fans would be going, oh mate, he's only done it one year in Portugal when he's done it in the championship. He's not really the guy to win us a Premier or a Champs. And to be fair with you, as much as I don't agree with that or disagree, I think there's some logic and it's a positive question. Those are the question marks that if Arsenal were to sign him, Mikel Arteta, Edu, the coaching staff and evidently Victor, the player, would have to address. The more I look at him, the more I've got a lot of time for him. You know, ballers come out of anywhere and I think strikers, as Arsene Wenger used to say, around, give or take, generally around 28 is when they start to peak. This man's 25. Obviously, it's not been smooth sailing for him. He's joined Brighton. It's not quite worked out. He's been on loan at Swansea and things like that. And he's found his feet at Coventry where he had a great season in the championship that got him brought to Portugal. You know, I think only Tuba Akpom outscored him that season and he was central to everything Coventry did and they made good money. You know, for a team like Brighton, where they buy the stars from all the continents in the world, they're probably kicking themselves and thinking, how did we let him kind of slip through our net without giving him a chance? Which just shows you, football is a funny old game of opinions. The purpose of this video is me just to talk about this player. I like him. The more I do the research, as I said, the more I like him. I don't know if he's the answer. I don't know if Arsenal are going to take it to the point of getting bids and stuff like that done or it's just general scouting as we scour the earth really and truly for a striker. But the more I do my research, as stated, people, there's a lot to like about the individual. When you look in the 2022-23 season, he had 18 goals and eight assists in 26 games, only bettered by Thubar Akpom, who was brilliant in that campaign. Direct attacks basically just means attacks started in your own half. So for instance, you know, if Saliba started a move in Arsenal's half and it ends up in the back of the net with Kai Havertz, that's that. Coventry did that in the same season in question. In fact, they had 123 direct attacks. So while Arsenal and Coventry are two very different football clubs, you can see how there's some interchangeable skills that Guy O'Kaire has in his back pocket really and truly and how he could tie into Arsenal. When you look at as well, most non-penalty shot involvements in that same season, he had 175. So if he's got the general play, he's got the link-up play, if he has an ability to win fouls and drop deep, and also he wants to shoot, which we need from a striker. I'm not saying he's the guy, but he's required, you know, to do what we need him to do in an Arsenal shirt. And I think there's transferable skills, even when you look at attacking sequence involvements from his season at Coventry in the Championship and his chance-creating carries. No Championship player at the time carried the ball further up the field this season, more than the man in question, while his per-90 average is higher than any other regular striker. So you could see why that's required. Saka can carry a ball, Kai Havertz is not pretty but can carry a ball, Trossart can carry a ball. You can see why we need that, and sometimes that can alleviate a lot of pressure on you. I look back to Anfield last season, where obviously we dropped a two-goal lead. But when Arteta brought off Gabriel Jesus and brought on Trossart, of course Trossart can operate as a false nine. Against Van Dijk, you're not going to get too much change. Imagine if you had someone of this ilk that could come on and help us in that. And also, again, obviously, chance-creating carries, you want to hear that leads to goals, but you've got to remember, your striker's ability to hold up the ball, draw fouls and get his teammates further up the field, that is a form of defending. As I said earlier, our first attacker is David Raya, our first defender is Gabriel Jesus, Havertz, Trossart, whoever is playing through the middle. Of course, football, strikers score goals, goalies defend and try and keep balls at the back of their net, but you get where I'm going with this. And at 25 years of age, I must admit, I sat there, I was a bit snooty, like, is he one-season wonder? And I don't know if he is. I don't know. He's over-performing his expected goals and, to be fair, the whole of Sporting Lisbon as a whole are doing that. So question marks, once again, have to be raised. But I'm just saying, the more I look at this lad, the more I like him. And if the club are not convinced on Ivan Toni, if they're not prepared to put the money down for Osserman and all these other players we've been linked with, I think he could be on the list, really and truly. My first choice would still be Benjamin Sesco because I'm a big fan of his, but I like the look of this guy. I think I speak for all Arsenal fans when I say we're keen to see who will actually be the striker Arsenal sign. Sometimes I think we're going to go for someone that is a bit more versatile, that can play up front as well as on both flanks. Sometimes I think we'll go for a plan B rotational striker. Sometimes I think we're going to go and get that out-and-out Bagsman, that Osserman, that Toni, that Vlahovic, whatever, really and truly. And in all honesty, I think there's logic with all of that. And God only knows who we're going to sign. I'm sure we've scouted many different players in many different leagues of various different ages and experience and stuff. And we'll just have to go on and see. Me, I would like another attacker personally because I want the best of both worlds. As I said earlier, I would love to see the numerous attackers that we have had scoring for the last two years, keep doing what they're doing and better. And I would like another striker. I think if we could get a striker, a winger, central midfielder would be really in the business. I think those three positions really upgrade us. And then it's just a case of marrying that with depth and improving our quality of players. You can make a case of another versatile defender. You can make a case where we're going to have to sign another number two goalie because you wouldn't imagine Ramsdale's going to sit on the bench for another year. So we'll have to see. I'm not convinced on activating, you know, demanding questions, a hundred million euros price tag, but what do I know? I'm just an arms chair expert and an Arsenal fan. If you liked the vid, let me know your thoughts. Please make sure you're smashing the like button and subscribe on that note. God bless you all. DG, I'm out.