'He's an animal': Arsenal star reveals huge impact of 'beast' Viktor Gyokeres amid criticism

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·12 Oktober 2025

'He's an animal': Arsenal star reveals huge impact of 'beast' Viktor Gyokeres amid criticism

Big summer signing has been questioned after early goals dried up, but Gunners team-mates are convinced of his quality

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Cristhian Mosquera has heaped praise upon Viktor Gyokeres, describing his Arsenal team-mate as a “beast” and “an animal” during Gunners training.

Gyokeres arrived in north London this summer in a high-profile £64million move from Sporting that followed a protracted transfer saga and strong links with Manchester United.

The Swedish international made an impressive start to life at Arsenal, scoring three times in his first three appearances in the Premier League including a brace in the 5-0 home rout of newly-promoted Leeds.

However, the goals have dried up since his last effort in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest last month, leading to some criticism from pundits over his low-key performances in big games.

Manager Mikel Arteta was quick to come to the defence of Gyokeres, though, along with several of his Arsenal team-mates including fellow summer signing Mosquera, who insists that the former Coventry frontman’s sheer quality in training improves the quality of the club’s defenders.

“He's a beast, an animal,” Mosquera said of Gyokeres - who has now gone six successive outings without finding the net for Arsenal - in a recent interview with Spanish newspaper Diario AS. “Training with him helps defenders improve. There were great players at Valencia, but training with such top-level players is a huge leap.”

Gyokeres also failed to score for Sweden in their 2-0 loss to Switzerland in Stockholm on Friday that dealt a huge blow to their chances of qualifying for the World Cup next summer, leading to media criticism of both him and Liverpool’s record signing Alexander Isak.

Mosquera - a £13m signing from LaLiga outfit Valencia - said he had “no doubts” about joining Arsenal after speaking to Arteta and “felt great” at the club and in adapting to the Premier League after making eight appearances across all competitions in the early stages of the season, including filling in for an injured William Saliba last month.

On competing with the established first-choice centre-back partnership of Saliba and Gabriel, he said: “When I signed, I knew I was going to find them, two world-class stars, but the club's idea was that: to have players competing for every position to go as far as possible.”

Mosquera was speaking ahead of Spain Under-21s’ 4-1 win over Norway in a friendly on Friday, in which he came off the bench for David Gordo’s La Rojita side.

The Spanish-born Mosquera captains the team and appears to remain committed to an international future with Spain despite overtures from Colombia, the country of his parents. The U21s next host Finland in a European Championship qualifier on Tuesday.