Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has challenged his entire squad to work together to help bring the best out of summer signing Viktor Gyökeres.
In what was his first competitive appearance following his £63.4 million ($85.5 million) move from Sporting CP, Gyökeres struggled to make much of an impact in his side’s nervous 1–0 win over Manchester United, competing just four passes and failing to take a single shot on goal.
In the face of criticism, Arteta defended his new striker by blaming his limited involvement on poor build-up play from those behind him, and he doubled down on that stance ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Leeds United.
“I think we are going to be extremely happy when he starts to put the ball in the back of the net very, very often, which is his biggest ability,” Arteta told the media.
“So the team and myself, we have a big responsibility to help him and to understand him to be more efficient and the first game was a really demanding game and we will take it from there.
“He is ready to go again. He’s very, very enthusiastic. He trained really well this week. Again, he had another week under his belt, he looks in a really good place.”
Arteta had wanted to ease Gyökeres into action at Arsenal but has been robbed of the opportunity to do so by Kai Havertz’s knee injury, with the German set for further tests on an issue which could sideline him for an extended period.
“Unfortunately, he picked up an injury and we don’t really know yet the extent of it,” Arteta said of the German. “I think we need a bit more time and some more tests and after that we’ll have more clarity about the next steps.
“I prefer not to talk about the specifics but he’s not fit. As I said, we need to explore that issue a little bit further and then decide what we’re going to do.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Big Responsibility’—Mikel Arteta Makes Viktor Gyokeres Demand After Slow Arsenal Start.