What to expect from Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal: Will Gunners' new attacker live up to hype in Premier League?

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So, can Viktor Gyokeres live up to the hype? The center forward Arsenal supporters have craved for years arrived last week, and every indication since it became clear he was Mikel Arteta's man is that the Swede is determined to not be crushed under the weight of expectation.

And there certainly is plenty of that. Aided by free printing in the club's physical and online shops, Gyokeres' No.14 shirt, a call back to club-record scorer Thierry Henry, is the best-selling in Arsenal's history. Singapore's National Stadium roared with delight at the sight of him in one of those jerseys before a pre-season friendly against Newcastle United.

If the first appearance does come on Thursday, when Arsenal face Tottenham in a pre-season friendly at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Sports Park (live on CBS Sports Golazo Network and Paramount+), then the hype promises to go stratospheric. It is all Arteta can do to cool the jets in the Far East, warning that his new signing "has only done today's session and yesterday very little." As to whether that first game is imminent, the Arsenal boss added: "We're going to assess tonight how he is. If the medical staff are pleased with his conditions it is possible."

Arsenal supporters believe they have the man whose goals can fire them to a first Premier League title in 22 years, perhaps a first ever European Cup. It is easy to see why. Even in the notoriously striker-friendly climes of the Primeira Liga, Gyokeres has been delivering shots and goals at a rate not seen for a generation. Across 102 games with Sporting, the Swede delivered 97 goals, 28 assists, 3.7 shots per 90 minutes and, most importantly of all, two titles. Not since Mario Jardel in 2001-02 has anyone scored more than the 39 Gyokeres delivered last season.

Then again, as a potential debut looms large, names like Jardel are not the sort to fill supporters with belief. Between 1996 and 2003 (minus a one year sojourn to Turkey), the Brazilian was one of the most coveted forwards in Europe, no wonder when he was averaging more than a goal a game in league play. When he finally came to England he averaged exactly zero goals per Premier League game for Bolton Wanderers. Carlos Vinicius, Fabio Silva, Darwin Nunez: Portugal does not want for expensive forwards who fail to make the grade in England. No wonder given that, according to club ELO ratings, the worst teams in the Portuguese top flight are about the same level as the best of the EFL's League One.

Arsenal are confident that Gyokeres will not be another addition to the annals of flops from Europe's western reaches. The Swede knows the English game from his time at Coventry, has the physicality to adapt to the league and is utterly fearless heading into what he knows will be the move to define his career. The Gunners' dealmakers were understood to be impressed with the urgency with which Gyokeres pushed to get himself to north London, his agent's sacrificing of commissions to smooth tempestuous negotiations with Sporting and his own desire for "revenge" after failing to make the grade with Brighton.

How Viktor Gyokeres compared to other center forwards in the 2024-25 Champions League TruMedia

No less encouraging was how Gyokeres fared in the Champions League. The sample size is small indeed, but the 27-year-old terrorized Manchester City on his way to a hat trick, half of the six goals he managed in the league phase. As is the case with his Portuguese output too, the numbers don't look quite as rosy when you subtract the penalties (two in Europe last season), but it is still clear that Gyokeres made a big impact on some of Europe's best defenders, including one of his new team mates.

"It's scary to play against him," William Saliba said of the Swede, who gave him plenty of headaches even in Arsenal's emphatic win in Lisbon last November. "When you face a striker who scores goals, you have to be focused! But now he's in our team and he will score for us, so that's good."

If Arsenal hadn't had Saliba and Gabriel in their backline that day they would have done very well indeed to hold Gyokeres goalless, so relentless was the then-Sporting striker in pursuit of balls down the channel. Arteta's side were prepared to leave almost half the pitch between their last outfield player and the goal; Gyokeres' eyes lit up at the prospect. These were the routes to his trademark goal, bursting into space on the counter attack, driving at the defender and smashing home a shot, as he does against Boavista in the passage of play below.

Viktor Gyokeres scores the second of his four goals in a 5-0 win for Sporting over Boavista Sport TV

This is one of those goals that Rio Ferdinand was describing on his podcast when he said the following. "I've watched him probably three times really, really closely. And three times I've gone: 'He ain't getting that opportunity in the Prem.' Is there enough -- after he's physically matched -- to get him a goal?"

Whether Gyokeres has that extra something to overcome Premier League defenses isn't yet clear. What is, on the basis of the last three years, is that chances like the one above are going to be vanishingly rare when he is in his new colors. Teams don't defend against Arsenal the way Arsenal defended against Sporting. They will fill the box and leave men back in possession, anything to limit the transition threat of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard.

Gyokeres will have to adapt to be a striker who puts the finishing touch on long spells of possession but it is not as if Arsenal need him to become that immediately. For all that hype about a new center forward it is worth noting that there is currently one on the books with whom Arsenal perform very well. In the two seasons since he arrived from Chelsea, Kai Havertz has delivered 27 goals and 11 assists in Premier League and Champions League play, the second most goal involvements of anyone in the squad behind Saka. For all the hype around the new guy it seems eminently plausible that it will be Havertz leading the line on the opening day.

After all, for all the hype around Gyokeres, a deal worth an initial $74 million with a further $11.5 million in potential add-ons is not exactly superstar money in 2025. Arsenal had gone into the summer knowing that if they couldn't get their primary target Alexander Isak they were going to be looking at forwards who could complement Havertz rather than utterly usurp him.

Arteta has got himself another option in attack, one whose ruthless pursuit of shots and goals is a marked contrast to the other center forward options in the squad. The new man is not going to change Arsenal's attack but instead round it out. Living up to the hype, then, might be an unreasonable yardstick to assess Gyokeres by.