Viktor Gyokeres has divided opinion since he joined Arsenal.
The Gunners were linked with several strikers across Europe, but Andrea Berta chose the Swede in the end, even though negotiations with Sporting CP proved extremely difficult.
Gyokeres found it difficult in his first few months at the club, and an injury in between didn’t help either. However, he is finding his feet now.
Roy Keane is one of the few people who backed the striker at the start, and he is still in support of him.
How do you RATE Viktor Gyokeres’ first season at Arsenal so far… 👀
Credit: Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images Roy Keane has been proven right about Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal
There was a lot of debate over whether Viktor Gyokeres was the right man for Arsenal early on in his Gunners career.
The Sweden international didn’t do much in his debut against Manchester United on the opening day of the new Premier League season, but he scored a brace in the very next fixture.
A week or so after that, Keane claimed that Gyokeres will be a ‘hit’ for Arsenal, which raised eyebrows as many people disagreed.
Fast forward five months, and Gyokeres has scored 13 goals in 32 games, which is more than what Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp managed in the same period.
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
That puts Gyokeres on track to score 20 goals, which was what Keane predicted several months ago.
The Manchester United legend was quizzed about the Swede again this week, and he doubled down on his previous claim.
He said on the Stick to Football podcast: “I’m going to say he’s doing what he’s supposed to do with Arsenal.
“I think a hit, by the end of the season, the goals he’ll get. I’m going to give him a hit.”
Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and even Ian Wright refused to call Gyokeres a ‘hit’. They placed him in the ‘maybe’ category.
Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal, underappreciated or underwhelming?
Credit: Getty Images Viktor Gyokeres is on track to achieve a rare Arsenal feat
It’s never easy for a forward to join a club and hit the ground running in England.
In the entire Premier League era, only two players have managed to score more than 20 goals in their debut season for Arsenal.
Wright was the first one to do it in 1991/92, when he netted 26 goals in all competitions. Alexis Sanchez was the next and last player to do so in the 2014/15 season. He scored 25 goals then.
Gyokeres has 13 to his name already, and he is almost guaranteed to play at least 17 more games from now until the end of the season.
We think he will score more than seven goals in those fixtures and become the third Arsenal player in the Premier League era to hit 20 goals in his debut season.
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