Viktor Gyokeres Outshines Arsenal Legend with Impressive Start, Ignoring the Critics

VIKTOR GYOKERES has had to block out the noise from the bullies to finally hit form for Arsenal.

The Swede was berated by ex-pros, pundits and fans during his first few months in North London, but now looks like he is thriving in Mikel Arteta’s side.

Viktor Gyokeres has registered eight goal contributions in his last eight gamesCredit: Reuters

It doesn’t feel too long ago that Gyokeres was staring down the barrel of a Sky Sports camera that had claimed he is more bothered about his barnet than his goalscoring.

Unfortunately for Gyokeres, that celebration was followed by a rough patch that only increased the noise.

In the 25 games that followed, the striker scored just five goals.

Now the £54.8m summer arrival has racked up eight goal contributions in his last eight games in all competitions, including a hard-earned double off the bench against at the weekend.

In fact, no Premier League player has scored more goals in all competitions than Gyokeres in 2026

Of course, the former Coventry man has now adjusted to Premier League , but he has also adjusted to the bright spotlight that is on him as Arsenal’s leading man.

That tetchy reaction to comments about his hair showed that the bullies were getting to him, however, that no longer seems to be the case.

haven’t had a consistent goalscorer up top since the days of , and the pressure was always going to be piled on whoever the board brought in to perform.

Gyokeres fixed his hair down the barrel of a camera to silence his critics against Leeds at the start of the seaosonCredit: AFP Dennis Bergkamp also struggled in his early days at Arsenal before becoming a club legendCredit: Getty

It’s only natural that Gyokeres was going to have to grow used to the social media barrage and the procession of retired pros who want to weigh in on the debates about his form.

was torn apart when he first arrived in North London, labelled a “waste of money” after failing to hit the ground running.

The non-flying Dutchman scored 10 goals in his first 32 matches for Arsenal, Gyokeres has netted 13 times in the same number of appearances.

praised Gyokeres’ mental strength after his two-goal cameo on Saturday.

He said: “Obviously when you put that shirt on, it comes with a lot of responsibility and huge expectations, and you need to live with that.

“And in your journey here, you’re going to have moments where it goes really well and others that are going to be tough.

“I love his character, the way he approaches every single day and the fact that he’s so focused on the present, what he has to do, and he has a genuine will to help the team in whatever role he has.”

Gyokeres isn’t going to replicate the 97 goals in 102 appearances he managed at Sporting, but nobody was expecting that of him.

What he can do is continue to be in the right place at the right time to finish off chances that went begging for Arteta’s title-challenging teams of the past.

His goals against Sunderland were the perfect example of what Arsenal have been missing in recent seasons.

Ugly, but effective – Gyokeres bundled in his first as he was falling over and had the second handed to him on a plate by .

There’s nothing more you can ask of him than to finish the opportunities that he gets, and, with the weight of expectation now seemingly off his shoulders, it seems like he might just continue doing that for the rest of the season.