“The rest of the team doesn’t understand him” - Chelsea icon warns Arsenal about Viktor Gyökeres becoming ‘useless’

Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf has warned Arsenal regarding their new signing, Viktor Gyökeres, insisting that the Swede may become useless if not used to his full strengths. Gyökeres made his Premier League debut for the Gunners on Sunday but failed to impress, despite his side defeating Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford.

Following an impressive 2024/25 campaign at Sporting CP, where he scored the most goals across Europe, the expectations for Gyökeres were undoubtedly high. However, not only did Gyökeres not score in Arsenal’s league opener, but he also failed to register a shot or create a chance during the 60 minutes he spent on the pitch.

Speaking on ESPN FC, Leboeuf argued that Arsenal’s style of play doesn’t suit Gyökeres, raising concerns that the forward could end up following the same underwhelming path as Rasmus Hojlund at Manchester United.

He said:

“My concern is, why do you recruit a player like Gyokeres when you know the rest of the team is not going to play that way? They have to cross the ball, be quicker, without turning around like you’re playing handball. You have the player that you need to cross the ball as quick as possible. If you make it slow, that guy is useless. The rest of the team doesn’t understand him. For me, it’s useless. I hope he’s going to change and score goals and everything.

“But I thought Hojlund signed for Arsenal and played against his former employers when I saw Gyokeres, that’s how I felt. I really hope he doesn’t have the same path as Hojlund. Today, he was nowhere near it because he was not in the same level of music the others were playing.

To highlight how poor Gyökeres was in the clash between Manchester United and Arsenal, he received the lowest Sofascore rating of any player on the pitch across both teams.

---

Former Premier League manager criticizes Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres for ‘poor’ Premier League debut

Former Newcastle United and Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew was not impressed with Viktor Gyökeres’ performance in the Manchester United vs. Arsenal match. He stated that the Swede failed to live up to his expectations.

When asked in a chat on talkSPORT what he made of Gyökeres’ showing, Pardew said:

"Well, poor. I think you can't gloss it up any more than that. He looked not quite at it, whether he was nervous or whatever… it didn't look what I was expecting because I'm a big fan of his. I was expecting a little bit more from him today.

"And I think at 60 minutes to get subbed was you know, what I would have expected with this performance. Maybe he felt he should have had a little bit longer, but no that wasn't the best. I'm surprised."

Pardew claimed that it was a risk to start the 27-year-old in such a match without a full pre-season behind him.

Pardew added:

"I mean it was a bit of a gamble I suppose but it was worth getting some time and some minutes under his belt. He did look a bit rusty and as you say, you know the inactivity and the fact that you know he's missed maybe half of pre-season is a factor in perhaps in not being as sharp as we were expecting."

Arsenal will next be in action against Leeds United on Saturday, August 23.