LONDON — The piercing blue eyes of Viktor Gyokeres sum up his steely, serious and centered character. He is all enterprise. His focus unwavering.
With the sunshine beating down outdoors, he strolls right into a darkish room at Arsenal’s coaching floor with whole confidence. He is strictly the form of character, and participant, Mikel Arteta needed so as to add to help Arsenal’s trophy push.
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“He wants to kill you,” Arteta joked lately amid Gyokeres’ purple patch of targets. “He’s got that eye. When he looks at you, he can look a bit intimidating.”
The towering Swedish striker is unquestionably a presence when he walks right into a room. But he is additionally relaxed and laser-focused on the important thing half he has to play in Arsenal’s quest for 4 trophies this season.
As he explains to Pro Soccer Talk, that is nothing new for him. He gained two-straight Portuguese league titles, and a Portuguese cup, with Sporting Lisbon earlier than becoming a member of Arsenal final summer time for $73.4 million. He gained the Gerd Muller Trophy as the most effective striker in Europe in 2025 with 54 targets in 52 video games.
Gyokeres feels he can use all of that have to get Arsenal over the road as they go head-to-head with Manchester City, and others, to win a number of trophies over the following few months, together with a primary league title in over 20 years.
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“For the last two years I have been in quite a similar situation in different ways where we’ve been fighting for titles,” Gyokeres explains. “It has been tough in different stages in the season and the rivals have been close to us in the league table. But luckily we managed to finish first in both seasons I was at Sporting which was obviously amazing. So I think being in this position now with Arsenal, I think it’s helping me just having the belief and the excitement being in this position right now and not fearing things too much.”
As Arsenal enter a giant two-week interval forward of the worldwide break the place they face Man City in a League Cup remaining, play within the knockout rounds of the Champions League and have key video games within the league, there may be little or no Gyokeres fears. Why would he?
His profession path has been lengthy and winding and he is labored his method to the very high. He performed on small groups in Sweden, then to Brighton in England earlier than mortgage spells at St. Pauli in Germany, plus Swansea City and Coventry City (which grew to become everlasting) in England’s second tier all earlier than the age of 25. Then off to Portugal to win titles and rating boatloads of targets earlier than being chosen as the lacking piece of the jigsaw to spearhead Arsenal’s more and more determined push for trophies.
As one among just a few Arsenal gamers within the present squad who’ve really gained trophies of their profession up to now, can his experiences assist his teammates?
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“Yeah of course if you’ve been in similar situations that you felt and you won in the end, of course that’s going to help you believe that you can do it again. Because you’ve done it before. So I think there are just positives to take from that,” Gyokeres mentioned.
Speak to anybody about his character and it rapidly turns into clear Gyokeres could be very matter of reality. He retains it easy. He does his job. He works exhausting. He focuses on what he has to do to be the most effective he will be. What does he wish to enhance on to achieve the following degree as a striker?
“I can improve everything. Everything,” he says, bluntly. He’s constant. Asked about his current Arsenal participant of the month award, Gyokeres was fast to play it down. He’s all in regards to the workforce first.
“I feel good and to get that award is great but I think they are more important things to get this season. I think we just have to do things like we have done the last couple of months and improve as well and together to go where we want to go,” Gyokeres added, clear that the main focus shouldn’t be on him.
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What can also be clear is that Gyokeres’ understanding of how he suits in at Arsenal, and the way Arsenal suits him, is rising stronger every week. He’s up for the Premier League participant of the month award for February. He’s settling in very properly.
Arsenal have not had a quantity 9 like him underneath Arteta and there have been rising pains this season making an attempt to suit him into their system. It was all the time going to take time. But the reference to Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and others is getting even higher and his hold-up play as properly as his ending has added an additional dimension to Arsenal’s assault in current weeks.
How do you’re employed on that chemistry and connection in assault?
“First of all I think the most important thing is to understand your teammates and how they play,” Gyokeres mentioned. “Then of course when you play games with them I think that’s where you improve the most because you understand in the games how it works and how you should move in relation to them and of course also according to how we want to play in that certain game as well. I think over time it has been better and better and of course there is a lot of amazing players here in the team so that makes it even easier.”
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Gyokeres laughs when requested what he does in his spare time “I hang out here (at the training ground) most of the time!”
Which Arsenal teammates is he closest with?
“The Scandinavian guys in the team, Christian [Norgaard] and Martin [Odegaard] I hang out with them a lot. But I think it’s easy to hang out with most of the guys in the team to be honest and I think we are that group where everyone can be with everyone so I think it’s a good group,” Gyokeres added.
Guarded about his life away from the pitch, soccer has all the time been, and can all the time be, the main focus for Gyokeres.
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“To be trustworthy it was largely soccer,” Gyokeres said when asked about playing other sports and growing up near Stockholm, Sweden. “We have plenty of different sports activities nevertheless it’s like in each different nation the simplest to play is soccer. Since I used to be younger I began to play soccer and rising up there was enjoyable. I went to a soccer college after I was 8 or 9 and also you have been in the identical class as plenty of footballers and also you performed each time you bought the prospect and we had trainings with them as properly within the mornings and it was simply plenty of soccer however plenty of enjoyable as properly. So, yeah, I loved it.”
What is important to Viktor Gyokeres? What does he enjoy most?
“Family. Friends. Goals. Winning soccer matches. Celebrate with the followers. Winning titles,” Gyokeres says, deadpan.
He is serious and blunt and trustworthy. Just the form of character Arsenal want to assist them be extra ruthless down the stretch as Gyokeres goals to remain on observe and be the distinction maker for them this season.
