Criticised Arsenal 28yo admits he wants to earn more starts | OneFootball

Viktor Gyokeres has admitted he’d like to be playing more with Arsenal, but that he expects to get plenty of chances before the season is done.

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Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres perhaps hasn’t had the start he would’ve hoped for in 2026/27, making the starting lineup just twice for the Gunners in eight games, and failing to score or assist in his five appearances.

Things have been looking up on international duty so far, with Gyokeres scoring the winner in Sweden’s Nations League game against Romania last week.

Gyokeres will likely make the starting lineup again for their match against Poland on Monday night and throughout the rest of the break, considering Liverpool’s Alexander Isak is out injured.

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The player himself has suggested his increased minutes with Sweden are no bad thing, as he would have liked to be involved more often with Arsenal so far.

“I haven’t played much, but I’ve had a few games,” Gyokeres said. “It has felt quite okay then, but it is clear that you want to play foot­ball. You always want to be on the pitch as a foot­baller, that’s the way it is.

“I obvi­ously need to do bet­ter and I’m will­ing to do it, so there’s no prob­lem.

“If you do well, you get accol­ades and if you don’t score as a striker and per­form as they expect, of course there will be cri­ti­cism. It goes up and down, so it is for all foot­ballers. That’s nor­mal.”

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Arsenal are obviously sweating on Kai Havertz’s fitness at the moment, with Mikel Arteta’s starting striker picking up an injury on international duty with Germany.

If Havertz is out for any serious length of time, that would presumably offer Gyokeres an opportunity in the starting lineup. But the striker claims he has no mixed feelings about his teammate’s injury status.

“I hope it’s noth­ing ser­i­ous because he’s an import­ant player for us,” Gyokeres insisted. “We need all the play­ers because it’s a long sea­son and a lot of games. I think every­one will play enough foot­ball when the sea­son is over.”

Photo via Arsenal.com