Gyokeres on fire in England, ex-Sporting fails to impress: He'll flop | OneFootball

The former striker Troy Deeney delivered harsh criticism of Viktor Gyokeres’ initial performances, the former Sporting player. The ex-English footballer said he believes the Swede will not live up to expectations in the most demanding matches and that Kai Havertz will ultimately take over the starting position.

“I think he’s good and I think he’ll score enough goals, but it won’t be enough to surpass Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, and Alexander Isak. I don’t even believe, for what Arsenal needs up front, that Gyokeres will score more goals than João Pedro from Chelsea over the course of the year,” Deeney began, speaking to talkSPORT.

The former Watford captain emphasized that the Swede doesn’t have a track record of showing up in big games: “When you look at his career as a whole, and I do, you realize that he hasn’t scored goals in big games consistently. And Arsenal is going to need that. So, when they played Manchester United… no one answered the phone, but the following week, against Leeds, where he scored two goals, people were calling me. So it’s going to be like this, ups and downs.”

The commentator also gave the example of the match against Liverpool: “He did nothing against Liverpool, but there are games where they can really bring him in. Even if you don’t score, you have to be a threat and make your opponents think: ‘Okay, I’m going to have to deal with you.’ You have to create space for Saka, Eze, Madueke, or whoever it may be. In those moments, I think he’ll fall short, and I think in the big games, when everyone is at the same level, Havertz will be the one chosen to play,” he concluded.

Viktor Gyokeres - valued at 75 million euros - has already played four matches, scoring three goals in 308 minutes of play. In Arsenal’s last match, the striker scored the second goal in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.