It has been a mixed start to life at Arsenal for Viktor Gyokeres, but former Manchester United and Tottenham striker Teddy Sheringham has full faith in him succeeding with the Gunners.
The striker arrived from Sporting after a lengthy transfer pursuit over the summer, with the north London club splashing £64m on his signature.
The 27-year-old has scored three goals in his first six Arsenal games so it cannot be said that things have gone badly so far for the Swede.
However, he is yet to show very much at all when Arsenal have faced their sternest competition, with his goals coming against Leeds and Nottingham Forest.
The Gunners have had a tough start to the season in terms of fixtures and Gyokeres did not shine at all in games against Manchester United, Liverpool, Athletic Club and Manchester City.
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Sheringham says performing against the big clubs is something the Sweden international has to improve, but he has no doubt Gyokeres will do well for Arsenal and score plenty of goals.
‘Viktor Gyokeres is a very good player,’ Sheringham told Coin Poker. ‘I think he’ll score plenty of goals for Arsenal this season.
‘They have lacked an out-and-out striker for a few years, but from what I’ve seen so far of him, Gyokeres looks like the real deal and could produce a lot of goals for the Gunners.
‘Previously, they’ve completely relied on the likes of Bukayo Saka to score their goals, but now they’ve got plenty of options up front that they could potentially rely on – notably Gyokeres – but also you will need Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze chipping in with some goals.
‘One thing I would say though, is that Gyokores needs to be doing more against the top sides in the league. Against Liverpool and Man City, I wanted to see more from him, but that will come with time.’
On what the former England forward likes about Gyokeres, he said: ‘His strength lies in his physicality and his right-foot. By looking at the goals he’s scored already, he likes to dominate the box and compete in the air.
‘If he’s not threatening from a set-piece, he’s dangerous when he cuts in onto his right-foot, which is what he did against Leeds at the Emirates. I think he’ll be a success for Arsenal; he’ll bag plenty of goals this season.’
‘There was a lot of very good balls in the box, especially I remember three of them that he was very, very close to doing,’ he said. ‘Against City to have big open chances is extremely difficult, but he is certainly trying his best and trying to do that. We have to provide more for him.
‘There were a lot of situations that the chances were there, then especially the final pass was missing today in many moments.’
Arsenal are back in action in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night at Port Vale, but Gyokeres may well be given the night off for that one.
They then go to Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, in another stern test for them and their new striker.
October begins with more appealing fixtures for the centre-forward, at home to Olympiakos and West Ham.
