🦸 He could be a CL hero: most controversial transfer ever?
· Yahoo Sports
There is a type of footballer that brings out extremes in fans. You either love them or hate them. You would jump to their defense in any heated debate, or condemn them at the first opportunity. You would sign them for your own club immediately, or you wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole.
Viktor Gyökeres seems to be exactly that kind of player. For months now, Arsenal fans and football fans around the world have been divided over the 27-year-old Swede.
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One camp, somewhat exaggeratedly, sees the €67 million man as little more than a better track-and-field athlete. Comments like “all he can do is run fast and shoot hard” are everywhere on social media. Time and again, Gyökeres has become the target of ridicule and mockery because of his technical limitations and hefty transfer fee.
Then there is the other camp, which sees the striker as one of the key reasons behind Arsenal’s first league title since 2004. That group includes England legend Wayne Rooney, among others. Just a few days ago, the 40-year-old described Gyökeres as the best signing of the past Premier League season. But which side is actually right?
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21 goals in his debut season
Well, as is often the case, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. In any case, Gyökeres is not nearly as bad as some make him out to be. Across all competitions, the new signing has been directly involved in 21 goals and three assists this season. Over 54 competitive matches, that is certainly not an outstanding return for a €70 million player, but it is still a good one — especially in a team that is not defined first and foremost by scoring goals.
The accusation many critics make at this point is that Gyökeres scores almost exclusively against supposedly weaker opponents and regularly goes missing in big games. That claim is not entirely without merit. The Scandinavian found the net only twice against teams that were in the Premier League’s top ten at the time of the match.
But it is far from true that Gyökeres disappeared in every important clash. On matchday 35, for example, he fired the Gunners back to the top of the table with two goals and an assist against Fulham. In the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, he also gave Arsenal a 1-0 lead against Atlético.
Technically not good enough for a world-class club?
The second main argument from Gyökeres’ critics is this: apart from scoring goals, the forward simply does not give his team enough. They argue that he is a complete disaster as a target man and in hold-up play, and even more so in combination play. For much of the season, many Arsenal fans therefore longed for the return of the long-injured Kai Havertz.
But since Havertz was only available for a fraction of the possible appearances, Gyökeres was left to lead the line alone in North London for a long time. And indeed, there were games in which Arteta probably would have preferred to put his new signing on the bench, but simply could not because of a lack of alternatives. Of course, Gyökeres delivered some poor performances, and of course he does not come close to Havertz’s technical level.
Even so, it would be unfair to deny that he has had a positive impact on the Gunners’ attack. With his incredibly physical style of play, he added a dimension to Arteta-ball that the attack has often lacked in recent years. The perfect example is the second leg of the Champions League semi-final: Gyökeres ran almost 11 kilometres, made 18 sprints, and made life difficult for Atlético’s defenders with his sheer strength. He did not score that night. Even so, he showed that he can influence Arsenal’s game positively even when he does not find the net.
Gyökeres and Arsenal on the brink of glory
Gyökeres has therefore played a decisive part in the English champions reaching tonight’s Champions League final in Budapest, where they will take on defending champions Paris Saint-Germain. Whether Arteta will start him or Havertz remains completely open.
What seems beyond dispute, however, is that the star striker will play. Against PSG’s far from towering central defense, Gyökeres may even have a good chance of making his mark in a successful final.
In a few hours, he may even be able to call himself a Champions League winner. A Champions League winner and a Premier League champion. For a player who has taken more flak in recent months than a contestant on “The Biggest Loser,” that return does not sound too bad at all.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.