Viktor Gyokeres — the € 64 million summer signing of Arsenal from Sporting CP — has been urged to prove his worth under pressure if he is to truly justify his move to the Emirates.
Arteta’s call: Gyokeres must prove himself in big games now
The call to arms comes from former Manchester United striker Louis Saha, who said that while Gyokeres “has done well so far”, the Swedish forward “has had it easy in some ways.”
Arsenal have been flying high this season, both in domestic and European competitions.
The Gunners recently registered a dominant 3–1 win over Bayern Munich, a result that underlined their credentials as title contenders.
Despite his arrival being billed as a major reinforcement, Gyokeres has not yet faced what Saha calls “a real test” — the kind of high-stakes, pressure moments that will define his debut season. “We haven’t seen them yet. It’s only November,” Saha said to punditarena.com.
Gyokeres has scored six goals in 14 games for Arsenal so far, yet he remains sidelined with a muscle injury since early November; his last outing came against Burnley on November 1.
Meanwhile, manager Mikel Arteta has had to adapt — deploying different attacking options in Gyokeres’ absence — and shown confidence in the squad’s depth.
Still, Saha believes that when Gyokeres returns, he must step up.
“He needs to be the final piece of the puzzle, to put away chances in big games, or when we’re struggling,” he said.
In short: the foundations are laid, the team is thriving — now it’s up to Gyokeres to deliver when it really matters.
