Gyökeres' £63.5m Arsenal Debut Falls Flat in Spurs Defeat

The excitement among Arsenal supporters has been palpable over the past five days following the official confirmation of Viktor Gyökeres’s £63.5 million transfer.

The 27-year-old, who rejected Manchester United in favour of a move to Arsenal , has been signed to remedy the club’s centre forward issues, and he was offered his first minutes in a red shirt on Thursday during a pre-season north London derby with Tottenham Hotspur.

Gyökeres was a second-half substitute during Arsenal ’s tepid 1–0 defeat to Spurs and was met with rapturous applause by the red half of Kai Tak Sports Park upon arrival in Hong Kong. However, his first appearance didn’t quite go to plan.

Here’s how Gyökeres performed on his unofficial debut.

Despite trailing at the break , Mikel Arteta decided against introducing Gyökeres immediately after the restart. Instead, the Spanish coach waited until the 78th minute to offer the Sweden international his first outing in an Arsenal shirt.

Rather unsurprisingly, Gyökeres was unable to affect proceedings during his brief cameo, with Arsenal producing an underwhelming attacking performance throughout. It was a familiar struggle for the Gunners, who failed to break down a Tottenham defence rejuvenated by Thomas Frank’s arrival.

In the end, Gyökeres only managed two touches on his debut, of which only one was in the Spurs penalty area. He made two passes in total and was anonymous as Arsenal desperately searched for an equaliser. A frustrating afternoon for the Gunners proved similarly infuriating for the ex-Sporting CP striker.

Gyökeres will now return to England with his new clubmates and will be eager to earn more game time in Arsenal’s remaining pre-season affairs.

Arsenal’s clash with Tottenham was the final outing of their pre-season tour of Asia but the Gunners have not finished their friendly business just yet. They return to home soil for duels with La Liga sides Villarreal (Aug. 6) and Athletic Club (Aug. 9), with Gyökeres set to experience the support of the Emirates Stadium crowd for the first time.

The Scandinavian sharpshooter will then have the opportunity to make his competitive debut for Arsenal on August 17 when the Gunners travel to Manchester United for their Premier League opener.

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