- Dixon backs Gyokeres to succeed
- Arrives as Arsenal‘s long-awaited striker
- Scored goals for fun at Sporting CP
Former Arsenal and England star Dixon says he believes Gyokeres has all the ingredients of a good signing for the north London giants. The Sweden international arrived from Sporting CP in a £64 million (€74.3m/$86.9m) deal after some goal-laden years in Portugal, bagging 97 strikes in 102 appearances for the Lisbon giants.
Arsenal have been crying out for a new striker in recent years, with many pundits and fans believing it was the missing piece as Mikel Arteta’s side went close but came up short in previous Premier League title challenges. Gyokeres is hoped to be the signing that brings it all together for the Gunners and Dixon has claimed the 27-year-old can still improve as a player at his new club.
Dixon told 10bet: “It’s easy to look at the numbers and see how many goals he got for Coventry, and how many at Sporting, but what’s important is the little nuances when he’s not scoring. How does he handle three or five games without scoring, and the pressure that comes with that, with everyone on his back? If you see what he’s doing and you can tell he’s focused, making the right runs, maybe just being unlucky, then you can be confident it’s just a matter of time. But I’ve got a good feeling about him.”
The former defender added: “I don’t think Mikel would have gotten away with ignoring bringing in a striker again. It seems like everyone wanted a striker this summer, and Arsenal weren’t the only ones, we’ve seen a lot of forwards signed by clubs this summer.
“It’s always a little bit of a gamble, and it dragged on for a bit with Gyokeres, but I like him as a player. I think he’s got a dimension to him that really suits how we play.
“And only time will tell whether he gets the goals, but they’re all gambles, centre-forwards. If they don’t score goals, it’s a failure. It’s as simple as that.
“Then we need to see how he fits in. There’s been a lot of criticism over the last few years with Haaland, that he doesn’t do this and he doesn’t do that, but he’s a proven, pure goal scorer. He gets his fair share and all the criticism about the rest of his game goes out the window.
“But not all centre-forwards are like that, they’re not all just about the numbers. Gyokeres can offer a bit of both, he can be an all-round contributor. He can definitely develop as a player under the coaches at Arsenal.”
Kai Havertz was Arsenal’s main No.9 last season but a severe injury meant Arteta had to turn to the likes of Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Mikel Merino to fill that spot. They ended the 2024-25 campaign having scored 69 goals in the Premier League, the third-best record in the division behind Liverpool (86) and Manchester City (72), but their lack of a clinical edge in pivotal moments was seen as a major cause of their lack of silverware.
Gyokeres will hope to hit the ground running as he begins his Arsenal career, with their first game of the season coming away at Manchester United on Sunday.
