Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres has confessed he has endured a difficult start to life at the Emirates but insisted he is slowly starting to find his feet.
A swollen tally of 97 goals in 102 appearances with Sporting CP saw Gyökeres earn a reputation as one of the most-feared strikers in the world, with Arsenal battling to secure a deal worth £63.5 million ($85.4 million) to bring him in during the summer window.
The goals have not flowed quite so freely in north London. A penalty in the recent 1–0 win over Everton was just Gyökeres’s seventh strike for his new club and only his second in the Premier League since mid-September.
“You can be in a period like that as a football player,” Gyökeres admitted. “It has been like that for me in the last few weeks. Of course, we have won football matches, and that is the most important thing when you are here. You want to contribute on the pitch and do your job.
“You take it game by game, and try to do your best to take advantage of the chances you get. I don't think too much about it.”
Asked to assess his start to life at Arsenal, Gyökeres reflected: “I think I am doing good, but it is still a challenge.”
Mikel Arteta Confident Gyökeres’s Goals Will Come
While Gyökeres is yet to win over everybody in north London, manager Mikel Arteta’s faith has never wavered.
The boss has publicly defended his big-money striker on a number of occasions and recently predicted a stronger second half of the campaign for Gyökeres as he continues to overcome the fitness issues which plagued the first few months of his tenure.
Arteta even suggested that the returning Gabriel Jesus could be the key to getting the most out of Gyökeres now he is back from a serious knee injury.
Jesus proved to be a creative force during the early days of his time at Arsenal before being struck down by injury and Arteta believes the Brazilian may be able to answer questions asked of the team’s ability to create chances for their combative striker.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘A Challenge’—Viktor Gyokeres Makes Honest Assessment of Arsenal Start.