Viktor Gyökeres is officially an Arsenal player after a lengthy transfer saga between the north London club and Sporting Lisbon.
Arsenal secured a striker after years under Mikel Arteta without a recognised No. 9. The 27-year-old is tasked with improving an Arsenal attack that scored 17 fewer league goals than title-winning Liverpool. Multiple players are set to benefit from his inclusion, but there are those who will lose out now given a perceived transformation in how Arsenal look to achieve their goals.
Here’s a look at the winners and losers from Gyökeres’s transfer to Arsenal this summer.
Winner: Mikel Arteta
Arsenal’s manager finally gets the prolific striker in his project. Talk of Dušan Vlahović, Benjamin Šeško, Ollie Watkins, Marcus Rashford and so many others from previous windows are things of the past. The Gunners have bided their time, one way or the other, to land the Swede as the leading option up top.
Gyökeres is under pressure to hit the ground running, but Arteta can come out looking like a mastermind if the Swede propels Arsenal over the line this season. Especially given the summer debate surrounding him and Šeško.
Loser: Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Jesus played a major role in Arsenal’s first title challenge, but the Brazilian struggled to find consistency and minutes after the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A brief return to the starting XI last season saw Jesus score six goals in four appearances, but a knee injury derailed him even further.
With Gyökeres coming in as a starter, Jesus could be on his way out. After reaching the double-digit mark in his first season, the former Man City player scored a combined seven goals over 44 Premier League appearances.
Arteta could value keeping his skillset around given he can play off the wings, but the writing is on the wall regarding his future in north London.
Winner: Bukayo Saka
Opposing defences have often double, or triple-teamed Saka to shut down Arsenal’s right-sided threat. Given how ineffective the Gunners have been recently in the other two-thirds of the attack, it’s been a recipe for success.
Gyökeres’s arrival should demand more attention centrally given his strength and pace, which should theoretically give Saka more room to operate on the flank. More space to size up a defender, more room to roam in and around the penalty area should result in more influence in games against low blocks.
Part of his game that gets nullified when multi-man-marked are back-post crosses from the edge of the box. Having the Swede occupying and threatening that area gives defences more than one thing to think about instead of simply shutting down Saka.
Loser: Leandro Trossard
Trossard’s move to Arsenal in 2023 came in the wake of a failed pursuit of Mykhailo Mudryk. The Gunners pivoted to the former Brighton & Hove Albion man providing another option off the bench to Gabriel Martinelli.
The Belgian’s best performance came away to Fulham that season when he provided a hat-trick of assists starting as a false nine in the wake of Jesus’s injury. Since then, he’s been in and out of the team as a starter in multiple roles. Versatility remains a key benefit to keeping him around, but the arrival of Gyökeres and talk of signing a left forward further hinder his path to consistent minutes.
Arsenal likely have to make a decision between one of Martinelli and Trossard this window in the long term given their respective contract situations. Both players being linked with moves away this summer captures a picture of uncertainty.
Cashing in on either could be of benefit to both parties.
Winner: Kai Havertz
As easily as he can be portrayed as a loser in this situation, perhaps Havertz’s situation is a silver lining in all this.
The German is one of the most controversial Arsenal signings in recent history. After a big money move from the Bundesliga to Chelsea with a Champions League title in tow and poor performances weighing him down, Havertz was brought in as an apparent experiment to replace Granit Xhaka in 2023.
That didn’t work out as he struggled to operate in a box-to-box role, leading Arteta to moving Havertz up top. He reached 20 goal contributions in the league alone (13 goals, seven assists) in his first season, nine more than his best season with the Blues. Still, there was pressure on him to improve on that the following season which, like Jesus, was affected by a long-term injury.
Bringing in Gyökeres should alleviate pressure on Havertz to bag goals in abundance. It will certainly affect his minutes if the path forward doesn’t include moving him back into midfield given the arrival of Martin Zubimendi. Instead, Havertz can now operate as another attacking option in the squad, potentially as a second striker in the pocket behind the Swede or in place of Martin Ødegaard against certain opposition.
Havertz primarily played as an attacking midfield in his final season at Leverkusen, scoring 12 goals with six assists added. If he can hit those totals in a lesser role, provided Gyökeres hits the ground running, it’ll be to the overall benefit of the squad. Plus, Havertz serving as a top option off the bench improves the overall squad given how light Arsenal have been in the past.
If the Swede does not shine instantly, then Arsenal have an option that knows the system, has shown he can perform to give Gyökeres more time to adapt. But, that scenario means uncomfortable conversations down the line.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Winners and Losers From Viktor Gyokeres’s Move to Arsenal.