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Viktor Gyokeres has been one of Arsenal’s most criticised players this season.
The Swedish striker often comes under fire whenever he fails to score, and that scrutiny has followed him throughout the campaign.
Even in games where he finds the net, like against Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday, the criticism does not completely disappear.
However, the bigger picture tells a very different story.
Gyokeres is now on the verge of becoming Mikel Arteta’s highest-ever goalscorer in a single season at Arsenal.
How do you RATE Viktor Gyokeres’ first season at Arsenal so far… 👀
Credit: Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images Viktor Gyokeres is closing in on becoming Mikel Arteta’s most prolific Arsenal goalscorer ever
Viktor Gyokeres has scored 18 goals in all competitions so far this season.
The current record for most goals in a single campaign under Arteta is held by Bukayo Saka, who managed 20 in the 2023/24 season.
Alexandre Lacazette netted 17 in the 2020/21 campaign, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang managed 15 in the same campaign. Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli also scored 15 times in 2022/23.
Gyokeres has outscored those four names already this season, and he is now just two goals away from matching Saka’s tally.
With six Premier League games still to play and up to four more in the Champions League, he has plenty of opportunities to break the record.
Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
There’s more proof that many Arsenal fans have got it all wrong about Gyokeres.
Club legend Thierry Henry and Alexis Sanchez are the only players to have scored more goals in their debut season for Arsenal than the Swede in the Premier League era.
When you look at it that way, it shows just how good a job the former Sporting CP man has done this season, despite the lack of chances created for him.
We think Gyokeres will surpass Saka’s 20-goal tally in the coming games and become Arteta’s highest-ever scorer in a season.
READ MORE: Arsenal fans all say the same thing about Viktor Gyokeres after Bournemouth clash
Is Viktor Gyokeres underrated?
Credit: Getty Images/Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside How Arsenal can make Viktor Gyokeres score even more goals
There is still a lot more to come from Gyokeres.
One of the biggest issues at Arsenal since the striker’s arrival has been that his runs are often ignored by his teammates.
That has limited the number of clear chances he gets. In the defeat to Bournemouth, there was a perfect example of that problem.
When Gyokeres was finally played through, the pass came just half a second too late, and he was caught offside. His run was near perfect, and he found the net as well before the flag was raised.
If the Arsenal players can find him earlier and give him two or three clear chances every game, his numbers will rise significantly.
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