Football General Manager
- Arsenal play rival Spurs on Thursday
- Gyokeres did not report for Sporting pre-season
- Arteta: "We will assess him"
Gunners fans would have hoped for their new £64m ($86m) man to feature in the first North London Derby to take place outside of the UK. Gyokeres is in Asia with his new teammates — he was unveiled before the Gunners’ 3-2 win over Newcastle in Hong Kong — but Arteta has suggested the Arsenal medical staff need to assess his fitness before he confirms his availability.
Gyokeres held out of Sporting CP‘s pre-season to help push through the protracted transfer. His new manager said that while his medical was passed without a hitch, they “need to get him up to speed with the right levels of fitness.” Arteta did not completely rule out the 27-year-old from appearing on Thursday.
When asked if Gyokeres would participate in tomorrow’s training session, and the North London Derby on Thursday, Arteta said: “Well I think he hasn’t had a single training session with the team since the last game with Sporting when they became champions.
“So we will assess him tomorrow, he’s done all the medicals, everything is looking good but to get him up to speed with the right levels of fitness I think is very important.
“So we’re not going to stop him, we want him with us as quick as possible but we’ll have to assess and the medical team will do that.”
Gyokeres will be chomping at the bit to get on the training pitch alongside his new teammates. The Swede, who will adopt Thierry Henry’s no.14 shirt, needs to prove his fitness ahead of the Gunners’ first Premier League game of the season against Manchester United on August 16.
