Has Viktor Gyökeres lived up to pre-season expectations at Arsenal?
Well, so far, the Swedish international striker has scored six times for the Gunners, most notably bagging a brace during the 4-0 Champions League demolition of Atlético Madrid.
However, as the saying goes, in absence the heart grows fonder.
Gyökeres hobbled off at half time against Burnley, having opened the scoring at Turf Moor, thereby sitting out subsequent trips to Prague and Sunderland, his absence truly felt during the 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light, with Mikel Arteta really lacking someone capable of running in behind, as well as reinforcements off the bench, so perhaps his importance was only crystallised when he wasn’t there.
Before suffering this injury, Gyökeres had started all 13 of Arsenal’s Premier League and Champions League fixtures, completing 90 minutes on nine occasions due to a lack of alternatives, with Kai Havertz having not been seen since sustaining a knee injury at Old Trafford on the opening weekend.
Ahead of a North London derby following the international break, Arteta is hoping to have the cavalry back, with all six of Arsenal’s injured attackers nearing a return, so could “the best finisher at the club” challenge Gyökeres for his previously undisputed starting spot?
Kai Havertz’s importance to Arsenal
If Arsenal are going to pip Manchester City to the Premier League title, they’re going to need their key players to remain fit and available.
For Arteta, these are William Saliba, Gabriel, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka; one could argue Jurriën Timber has entered this exclusive group too, while Martin Ødegaard was certainly there too prior to his injury issues both this season and last.
If you ask the manager, if not certain onlookers, even if this zeitgeist has changed for most supporters, Kai Havertz is in Arteta’s top-tier of importance too.
So far in 2025, the German international has played just 817 competitive minutes, 754 of which came prior to a serious hamstring tear during the warm-weather training campaign in February before, just when he had got an entire pre-season under his belt, a knee injury picked up against Manchester United in August required surgery.
Initially signed to play a completely different role, Arteta stating upon his arrival that “he will bring a huge amount of extra strength to our midfield”, after the Havertz as a left-eight experiment did not go as planned, he thrived as a centre-forward, scoring 29 goals for the Gunners to date.
So, what Arteta has shown is that, if Havertz is available, he is going to find a place in his team for him, so the idea that Gyökeres’ arrival would end his Arsenal career was never going to be the case.
Clearly, the pre-season plan was for the pair to timeshare the centre-forward role which, who knows, may have prevented Gyökeres’ injury, but certainly would have benefited him, given that the Swede’s best two performances, coming at St James’ Park and Turf Moor, both occurred after EFL Cup ties where he had been afforded a rest.
However, once Arteta has his full complement of forwards available again, the fabled ‘when everyone is fit’ bliss managers rarely ever enjoy, could there be another challenger for the number nine spot?
Why Mikel Arteta’s “best finisher” could lead the line
As already outlined, Gyökeres, Havertz and Ødegaard as well as Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus are all hoping to make their eagerly-anticipated returns in the coming weeks.
Down to threadbare options, Arteta has been forced to return to the well that never seems to run dry that is Mikel Merino up front, something Gooners thought they had seen the end of after last season, but all the absentees have given Leandro Trossard the opportunity to seriously stake a claim.
The Belgian leads the way at Arsenal in terms of combined goals and assists so far this season, having bagged four of each, while this is also the case across 2025 to, as the table below documents.
Arsenal’s leading scorers in 2025
Players
Goals
Assists
Leandro Trossard
10
10
Mikel Merino
11
6
Declan Rice
9
10
Martin Ødegaard
5
9
Gabriel Martinelli
9
3
Bukayo Saka
9
Zero
Ethan Nwaneri
5
2
Viktor Gyökeres
6
Zero
Trossard has scored crucial goals on the road against both Fulham and Athletic Club this season, before firing home this absolute rocket on Wearside last Saturday night.
Ever since he joined the club from Brighton for £27m in January 2023, probably a better signing than Mykhailo Mudryk would have been, Trossard has been prolific in front of goal, scoring 32 goals and accumulating 27 assists, the most of any Arsenal player during this timeframe.
Thus, the Belgian has been labelled “the best finisher at the club”, while Tim Stillman of Arseblog agrees, describing him as an ‘excellent shooter and finisher’, something Arsenal’s squad lacks in general, praising his ‘positional versatility’.
Thus, given his output, Arteta is going to want to have Trossard on the pitch somehow.
With Madueke and Martinelli vying for minutes on the left-wing, could we see Trossard challenging for minutes as the centre-forward, certainly offering something different to Gyökeres, at the very least putting pressure on the Swede to perform, something he has not had due to the lack of a genuine alternative up until this point?
