Arsenal players 'don't trust' Viktor Gyokeres, claims Gunners legend

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Evening Standard

·6 February 2026

Arsenal players 'don't trust' Viktor Gyokeres, claims Gunners legend

Are Mikel Arteta’s men just ‘not used to’ playing with a striker, or is there more to it?

Arsenal players “don’t trust” Viktor Gyokeres, Paul Merson has claimed, after the Gunners frontman endured his latest lacklustre night in the midweek Carabao Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea.

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The Swedish striker, signed last summer for a fee rising above £60million including add-ons, arrived with a reputation as one of Europe’s most prolific goal-scorers from recent seasons, but that hasn’t quite translated to his time in north London.

Gyokeres has found the net 11 times in all competitions so far in his debut campaign but just six of those goals have come in 22 Premier League appearances, placing him a lowly 20th in the top-flight’s Golden Boot race.

He was given the nod up front for the second leg of Arsenal’s semi-final bout with the Blues, having scored in the first leg as well as recent wins over Leeds, Inter Milan and Kairat Almaty, but ended up taking just 10 touches, a single shot and completing one pass during his 69-minute run-out.

Gyokeres was replaced by the fit-again Kai Havertz, a makeshift line-leader under Mikel Arteta in years gone by, who made much more of an impact in his brief cameo, scoring a stoppage time winner to solidify the side’s ticket to Wembley.

Addressing Gyokeres’s lack of involvement, former Arsenal midfielder Merson suggested there may be a lack of trust between the Swede and his teammates.

“Arsenal don’t trust him, the players - they never pass to him,” Merson told the Stick to Football podcast.

Gyokeres is Arsenal’s top scorer in all competitions, but has found himself isolated up front on plenty of occasions

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“They never pass to him. You watch him. Next time he comes short they go ‘no’,” he continued, gesturing to indicate Arsenal players picking another pass rather than playing the ball to their centre forward.

Chiming in, fellow Gunners legend Ian Wright pondered whether this may be due to the rest of Arteta’s squad not being “used to” playing with an out-and-out centre forward, having been without one for “so long” prior to Gyokeres arriving.

Roy Keane posed that Gyokeres must be “more demanding” and Wright agreed, adding that his lack of time on the ball is “absolutely on him”.

Merson, meanwhile, highlighted the “different” scenario when Gabriel Jesus - who has four goals to his name this term, in far fewer minutes than Gyokeres, since returning from an ACL injury - is the man up top.

“If you watch it you’ll be surprised,” he added.

“And then Jesus comes on, they just keep giving him it all the time. It’s different.”