By Sam McGuire
The Gunners convinced Martin Zubimendi to leave the Basque Country while Kepa Arrizabalaga, the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, arrived at the Emirates for a bargain fee of £5million. Brentford skipper Christian Nørgaard is expected to add depth to the Arsenal midfield and there’s talk that Noni Madueke could be signed from Chelsea as Mikel Arteta looks to bolster his attack.
The difference-maker, however, could be the imminent arrival of Viktor Gyökeres. Arsenal, for all of their easy-on-the-eye football during the Arteta era, have lacked that exclamation point in the final third from time to time.
They’ve been without a player who is obsessed with putting the ball into the back of the net. A true goalscorer.
Arteta has invested in the forward line over the years, signing Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus. The Gunners also brought Raheem Sterling in on loan. While these are goal threats, they aren’t necessarily goalscorers. They aren’t going to hit 30 across all competitions, are they?
And that appears to have been Arsenal’s downfall over recent seasons. Last term, they finished sixth for Expected Goals in the Premier League with a total of 61.6. Bournemouth (64.9) were one of the five teams to be more of a threat and Liverpool topped the charts with a haul of 83.5. For further context here, the Gunners could only claim a fifth placed finish in the Big Chances table with a total of 110, 40 shy of leaders Liverpool.
In a sport in which goals are king, the lack of real threat for Arsenal was clearly a problem. You can have the best defence in the league but if you don’t have the firepower to make the most of it, you’ll always fall short.
Gyökeres doesn’t guarantee goals. No player does. But the Sweden international is a supreme goalscorer and an elite chance-getter. Provide him with enough chances and he will, more often than not, put the ball into the back of the net.
It’s why Sporting are reportedly demanding a guaranteed £60.2million to part ways with the 27-year-old this summer.
Last term, the one-time Brighton man scored 39 league goals and netted 54 across all competitions. To put into perspective just how impressive this is, Havertz, Trossard, Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli scored a combined 34 league goals during the 2024/25 campaign.
The 6’2″ powerhouse was just inevitable for the Lisbon giants. He claimed an average 8.33 FotMob rating last season for his performances in the Portuguese top flight. In fact, he was the only player in Portugal to finish with an average rating of over 7.9.
He was a class above everybody else. He finished with 46 goal involvements in the league, 20 clear of his closest rival. His Expected Goals haul of 30.9 was 12.5 more than the man in second.
If you want a pure, out-and-out No. 9 this summer, he’s the best bet.
His shot map is the sort that all strikers yearn for. Huge volume inside of the area and only a handful of attempts from low-value areas. He is where you want him to be, all of the time.
There are, of course, a few things to caveat though. For example, 12 of his 39 league goals arrived via the penalty spot. Penalties aren’t awarded so freely in the Premier League and he might be behind Saka in the pecking order, so that needs to be factored in.
The sheer volume of shots on a per 90 basis also needs to be looked at. Last season, he averaged 4.46 shots per 90.
The only two players to crack the four shots per game on average barrier were Julio Enciso and Jhon Durán. The former appeared in fewer than 1,200 minutes while the latter was sold in January having racked up just 626 minutes. The point here is it is almost impossible to maintain that sort of shot volume while playing 2,600 minutes. The most prolific shooter for the Gunners last term was Saka with 3.5. Next up was Havertz with 2.5.
How Arteta goes about ensuring his new centre-forward gets the service he needs is going to be intriguing. Without it, it is hard to know just how impactful Gyökeres can be. After all, the key to his success in Portugal has been shot volume. If Arsenal are unable to create an environment for him to thrive, this signing could cause more problems than solutions for the title challengers.
You have to believe that Arsenal have done their due diligence though. Earlier in the transfer window, it appeared as though Benjamin Šeško was the one for them but he was priced out of a move. There was also talk of Hugo Ekitike.
Gyökeres has an advantage over both though having already played in England. The adaption should be a little easier. The Sporting No. 9 also has experience battling for the title. Another tick for him. There’s also an argument that he’s more of the finished article, with Ekitike and Šeško still learning on the job. Arteta needs someone who can make an immediate impact. And, in theory, Gyökeres can, all for a reasonable fee of €70million as opposed to the €100million that RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt reportedly want for their strikers.
Signing the Sweden international would be smart business. But only if Arsenal are prepared to play to his strengths. Do that and they could have the firepower to finally win a Premier League title under Arteta.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can track all the summer moves via the FotMob Transfer Centre. Download the free app here.