Although playing in the Portuguese league, not as harsh as in the top European leagues, Viktor Gyokeres' achievements cannot be underestimated. He has scored 85 goals in 91 appearances for Sporting Lisbon since joining in the summer of 2023.
Since the beginning of the season, Gyokeres has played 42 matches and scored 42 goals for Sporting. At the national team level, he also scored 12 goals in 12 matches for Sweden. Combined with both levels, the 26-year-old striker took an average of 76 minutes to score 1 goal.
What is needed for the debate, the media has given Gyokeres all in the past few months. Now is the time for Arsenal fans to read detailed technical and parametric information to see if the Swedish star is really suitable for the club.
If they are in their best form, Arsenal's current attack still has many shortcomings and Gyokeres can make up for them. Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard all have many finishing qualities, but if they need a true setter in attack, they do not have the strength to do that.
Current Arsenal strikers, when having the ball in the opponent's third, tend to coordinate more with the surrounding satellites. Gyokeres likes to attack the penalty area like Erling Haaland of Man City.
Last season, he scored 16 goals for Sporting in such a style. Once he had the ball in the opponent's half, Gyokeres just wanted to hit it straight into the penalty area.
The Swedish star is not without weaknesses. When surrounded by tight spaces, Gyokeres was not really skillful to escape. Due to his high speed and outstanding strength, his weaknesses in playing football are sometimes overshadowed.
In addition, although he is 1.89m tall and has good physique, aerial combat is the striker's forte. In Gyokeres' last 68 goals for Sporting, there has only been 1 header.
In Sporting's system, Gyokeres is placed at the right center of the quick counter-attacking strategy that has existed since Ruben Amorim's time. The Swedish striker was tasked with creating opportunities for himself, which he always did very well.
Gyokeres can move out - in the penalty area very flexibly. He was not fixed in position when his teammates attacked. That is a very easy image to see of this striker in the past 2 years.
Gyokeres' finishing situations are not technical superiority, simply being at the right time and place to put the ball into the net. The 26-year-old star's strongest point in finishing is his ability to turn simple situations into absolute accuracy.
This is much better than Havertz, Trossard and Jesus, who are sometimes too good to be a striker and need to be truly sublime to score.
There are two things Gyokeres needs to consider carefully before nodding at Arsenal (if any). First, the Premier League is not a healthy land for Primeira Liga strikers.
Most recently, Darwin Nunez failed after leaving Benfica to join Liverpool. After that, Arsenal was the team that played possession and active attack, not defense - counter-attack like Sporting currently.
There are still many indicators on whether or not Viktor Gyokeres' contract with Arsenal will happen. However, looking at the Swedish striker's statistics, if the "Gunners" miss it, they will definitely regret it.
