Arsenal warned not to sell Viktor Gyökeres in January without a replacement
Former Arsenal striker Jérémie Aliadière has warned against selling Viktor Gyökeres in the January transfer window without securing a replacement, despite believing the team’s style does not suit the Swedish striker’s abilities. His comments came amid speculation that the player could leave in January.
Gyökeres scored a goal and provided an assist in Arsenal’s win over Slavia Prague in the Champions League, in what the source described as his best performance of the season. However, he has started just one Premier League match since the season began, having scored 21 goals in all competitions during his first season after joining from Sporting Lisbon for £64 million, and has fallen behind Kai Havertz in the striker pecking order.
Aliadière explained that selling Gyökeres without replacing him could leave Arsenal without a recognised striker if Havertz were to get injured. He added that signing a player before selling another might be necessary, citing what he said about Arsenal’s moves in the summer and his view that Eze is not ideally suited to playing on the left wing when an injured player is unavailable.
Aliadière believes Gyökeres does not receive the ball quickly enough to run into space and face defenders one-on-one. Arsenal prefer to keep possession and control the tempo of the game, while the player, in his view, tends towards a counter-attacking style. He therefore does not expect Gyökeres to become the team’s first-choice striker, and expects him to remain a rotation player.