‘Leave Him Alone’—Mikel Arteta Defends Under Pressure Arsenal Star

Four goals in the Premier League and six in all competitions have prompted questions to be asked.

Mikel Arteta says it’s too soon to be drawing conclusions. / George Wood/Getty Images

Mikel Arteta has warned critics of Viktor Gyökeres to give the striker more time to find his feet at Arsenal.

Expectations were sky high for Gyökeres upon his summer arrival from Sporting CP, owing to a tremendous couple of goalscoring seasons in Portugal. The Swede scored 97 goals in 102 appearances across all competitions, including 54 in 52 during 2024–25—a prolific output that score him score 39 times in Portugal’s top flight.

Things haven’t been quite so straightforward for Gyökeres in the Premier League, though he and his manager were always acutely aware of the step up in level.

FREE NEWSLETTER. New SI FC Newsletter Global Embed. Sign Up to Get Informed With SI FC. dark

Gyökeres has four Premier League goals to his name from 13 appearances to date, while he’s also found the back of the net twice in the Champions League. His relatively modest return—six goals from.18 appearances—has seen some question his place in Arsenal’s side, particularly as makeshift forward Mikel Merino has contributed nicely during the 27-year-old’s spell out injured.

But speaking ahead of Arsenal’s clash with rock bottom Wolves at Emirates Stadium, Arteta moved to defend Gyökeres, arguing he’s not had adequate time to acclimatise and be judged on his performances.

---

Gyokeres Sample Size Is Too Small

Arsenal were without Viktor Gyökeres for most of November. / Visionhaus/Getty Images

“There was a lot of excitement because we were bringing a proven scorer that had probably the best stats in Europe,” Arteta told his news conference on Friday. “He is a player that comes to a different league, the most demanding league in the world, and what happens if he doesn’t score for five or six games?

“That was my only question to him: ‘How are you going to react if you don’t score in five or six games? Can you cope with that? And then what’s going to happen in the next 100 games?’

“And that’s what you have to see. The sample is very small. So, leave him alone, let him do what he does best, be behind him and I’m sure things will turn out in the right way.

Gyökeres has missed a month of action after picking up a hamstring injury, with his last goal coming in Arsenal’s 2–0 win over Burnley on Nov. 1. He has featured in the club’s last three games in a limited capacity, but could be in line for more minutes against the Premier League’s weakest defence.

Viktor Gyökeres: The Man Behind the Mask. dark. Next. Gyokeres bio

“We have to put him (Gyokeres) in the best possible condition to explode and fulfil his potential,” Arteta continued. “Before the injury, he was in a great place. It took him a while at the beginning because it’s a different league with different demands.

“He had no pre-season and now he’s starting to get some momentum, but the thing that’s going to unlock him is goals.

“He needs that for himself, for his confidence, and we’re going to judge his performances based on that as well. That’s logical, but he wants it so badly as well.”

---

READ THE LATEST ARSENAL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS AND MORE

feed