Paul Scholes has questioned whether Arsenal’s new marquee £64million striker Viktor Gyokeres was Mikel Arteta’s first choice, challenging whether his style of play will suit the Gunners.
The north London side ended their lengthy search for a new frontman at the end of July when, following weeks of arduous negotiations with Sporting Lisbon, Gyokeres arrived at the Emirates Stadium.
The Swede, who netted an incredulous 97 goals in 102 games while in Portugal, will don the number 14 shirt for the Gunners, famously worn by legend Thierry Henry during his initial eight-year stint at the club.
Gyokeres was given his first run out by Arteta in Arsenal’s pre-season defeat to north London rivals Tottenham last week, but the striker struggled to make much of an impact in a brief cameo as he gets used to his new surroundings.
Upon signing the 27-year-old – once Coventry City’s main man – Arteta expressed that he was ‘absolutely delighted’ that the Swede was now a Gunner. However, Manchester United legend Scholes is not convinced that Gyokeres was the Spaniard’s preferred choice.
Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, Scholes said: ‘[Arsenal needed a] Centre forward, I just wonder if you’ve chosen the right one.
Paul Scholes (left) has questioned whether Viktor Gyokeres is the right striker for Arsenal – while Jamie Carragher (right) has identified a Man United target he would likely have preferred
The 27-year-old Swede signed for £64m in July and made his unofficial debut against Spurs
Mikel Arteta says he is ‘absolutely delighted’ about signing Gyokeres – but Scholes is unsure
‘Because there was a lot of um-ing and ah-ing about it, I wondered if Mikel Arteta really wanted him, as the main one he wants? I’m not too sure, and he’s got him now.
‘He’s had a really strange career path – Brighton, Coventry, and then he’s gone to Sporting Lisbon, and his goal record is absolutely brilliant – you can’t take that away from him.
‘If there’s any team that he could go to and create chances, then it should be Arsenal, and it should be a really good match.’
Last season, Gyokeres scored at a quite ridiculous rate of nearly one goal per game, banging in 52 strikes in 54 appearances in all competitions for Sporting, including a hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League.
Nevertheless, Scholes is yet to be convinced that the striker, who has never made a Premier League appearance despite previously playing for Brighton, will suit Arsenal’s possession-based style of play.
‘The only thing I’d say against Gyokeres really is that with Sporting Lisbon, he’s probably playing on the counter-attack a lot, in Europe especially,’ he added.
‘You think of Arsenal, they have the ball an awful lot, is he going to be clever enough to make these runs in behind – a lot of him that you see, he’s sprinting from the halfway line almost, you can’t keep up with him, he’s ramming people, he’s quick and he’s smashing the ball in.
‘Is he going to be that clever striker – we know Isak can do that. Can Gyokeres do that?’
Jamie Carragher believes that Gyokeres was wanted by new sporting director Andrea Berta
Arsenal had previously been linked to Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, who is now being fought over by Man United and Newcastle in one of the hottest transfer sagas of the summer window
Liverpool legend and Sky Sports’ big cheese, Jamie Carragher, also weighed in on the debate.
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The former England defender shares a similar view to Scholes on Gyokeres, citing an article that inferred Arsenal’s new sporting director, Andrea Berta, was the driving force behind the signing.
Carragher, speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, said: ‘What I thought was really interesting was James [McNicholas] from The Athletic did a piece when the signing was done, and he insinuated in the column that he wrote that he was more of a sporting director signing.
‘The club were in for [Benjamin] Sesko for probably six months, and the new sporting director [changed direction] – I thought it was an interesting piece, as well as how that will affect Arteta going forward.’