‘Doesn’t Happen Often’—Thierry Henry Gives Viktor Gyokeres Verdict Ahead of Arsenal Debut

Thierry Henry called for patience when it comes to Arsenal’s new striker Viktor Gyökeres, warning that players rarely hit the ground running after moving to the Premier League for the first time.

Henry knows this all too well himself. The revered Frenchman didn’t score in any of his first seven Premier League appearances for Arsenal following his arrival from Juventus in 1999, infamously blasting one effort so wayward it hit the clock at the club’s old Highbury ground. Never again would he endure such a long goal drought in the competition.

Gyökeres has inherited Henry’s No. 14 shirt and is widely expected to enjoy a similarly prolific spell in north London. The former Sporting CP forward is fresh from a staggering campaign in Lisbon which saw him plunder 54 goals in just 52 games.

The Swede’s ex-Sporting coach Ruben Amorim, who will come up against his one-time striker with Manchester United on Sunday, warned of the difficulties which players can face when changing league. Henry took up a similar line.

Viktor Gyokeres smiling. — Viktor Gyökeres will make his Arsenal debut against Man Utd on Sunday. | Getty Images/Yong Teck Lim

“You have a guy that’s a killer in the box—numbers don’t lie—and you have a team that create a lot of chances, so it should be the perfect match, but you have to also understand that sometimes it doesn’t click straight away,” Arsenal’s all-time top scorer wrote in his Betway Insider blog.

“What you want is people to be patient with him, and what is annoying right now is that people are not that patient anymore. They want the guy to perform straight away, score goals straight away and make us win straight away, which doesn’t happen often.

“He already was in England, let’s not forget that. He was at Coventry, he couldn’t do it at Brighton, so you can see a guy who already knows what struggling is and comes back from that. He’s more confident, and you can see from his body the way he’s looked after himself, the way he’s changed.”

Henry also turned the spotlight on Gyökeres’s teammates. “I’m an Arsenal fan, I obviously hope he’s going to do well, bang goals for us, and guide us to a title, but he’s not going to do that alone,” the retired France international warned.

“We have seen that goals don’t always assure you a title. We’ve seen guys with mad numbers, but they didn’t win anything. The team around them has to be good.”

Gyökeres will have the first chance to prove himself in a competitive setting when Arsenal travel to Manchester United’s Old Trafford home for their Premier League opener on Sunday afternoon.

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