Arsenal: Ben White explains why 'monster' Viktor Gyokeres is destined to be a Gunners great | OneFootball

Ben White has been stunned by his new team-mate’s impact

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Gyokeres moved to Arsenal this summer from Sporting after the Gunners agreed a deal worth over £60million.

The striker arrives with a huge reputation from Portugal, where he scored 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting.

White knows Gyokeres from their time together at Brighton, and he has backed the Swede to terrorise defences this season.

He’s one of the most professional trainers I’ve ever seen, he’s right up there with Odegaard

Ben White

“He’s a monster! He lives for goals doesn’t he? He’s a constant threat,” White told Arsenal’s website. “You really don’t want to get in his way when you are playing against him, because he’ll just move you out of the way anyway!

"He’s such a big presence and I think it will be a massive help that he’s already played in English football. You see a lot of people come to the Premier League and they’ve had no taste of what it’s like and it can be a struggle.

“But for Viktor, he’s well used to it. He played at Coventry, and I played loads of games with him at Brighton. So he’s seen it, he knows what it’s going to be like and what to expect from the defenders.”

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

White continued: “I can’t say a bad word about him to be honest. He’s one of the most professional trainers I’ve ever seen, he’s right up there with Martin Odegaard in that respect.

“It’s great that we have these players coming in, because all this competition for places makes people lift their standards and it makes everyone better.

“We played together at Brighton for a long time, maybe three or four years, and I could tell even then that he was always destined for greatness.

“From the moment he came to Brighton, he was brought into the Under-21s group and you could see he had something special about him at that age.

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

“It was always me and him going up from the youth team to go and train with the first team all the time, so we spent a lot of time together.

“We never really broke into the first team consistently there, but we were always on the edges of it when we were young.

“It’s funny how things happen because we both went out on loan at different places, and now of course we’ve ended up at the same place after taking very different paths.

“I spoke to him a little bit before he signed, but there was a lot going on so I didn’t want to bother him. All I said to him was that he would love it here, but I think he knew that already.”