Scholes claims Arteta was forced to buy Arsenal star in the summer: ‘It’s the pressure’ | OneFootball

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes reckons Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was forced to buy Viktor Gyokeres in the summer transfer window.

The Gunners brought in eight signings in the summer transfer window as the board backed Arteta to finally go one step further by winning the Premier League title.

Arsenal have finished runners-up in each of their last three seasons in the Premier League with many feeling a new goalscoring centre-forward could be the final piece in the jigsaw for Arteta.

The Gunners invested around £64m in the Sweden international after he scored 97 goals in 102 appearances for Portuguese outfit Sporting CP.

However, things haven’t quite gone to plan for Gyokeres at Arsenal with the former Coventry City striker scoring six goals in 18 matches in all competitions.

Gyokeres is currently nowhere near his goal to game ratio seen at Sporting but Scholes has praised the Arsenal striker for giving his all during matches.

“He’s a focal point and works his b****** off.”

Former Man Utd team-mate Nicky Butt added: “He’s gone into a team at Arsenal that’s never had a centre forward, they didn’t play with a proper striker last season.

“It might not be Gyokeres fault this, it might be the other players not knowing where he is.

“It’s tough for a player to go into a team that isn’t used to playing with a centre forward. But he’s a focal point to get them up the pitch.

“It had to be perfect for Arsenal to get into the final third last season, it had to be intricate to get up the pitch and they did it well to be fair.

“But with him he holds the ball up well and they get up the pitch.”

But both Scholes and Butt suspect that Gyokeres wasn’t their first-choice striker target over the summer with Arteta being forced to sign him as Arsenal were desperate to sign a centre-forward.

When asked about Arteta’s reasons for signing Gyokeres, Butt said: “It’s the pressure. The pressure to buy a centre forward.

“The pressure to buy a striker at a club who keep nearly winning the title is massive.”

Scholes added: “I think Gyokeres was the last one available as well.”