Martin Keown delivers his honest verdict on Arsenal signing Viktor Gyokeres

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In a somewhat unexpected twist, Arsenal have decided to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP to solve their striker conundrum.

For a while it seemed as if Arsenal would choose Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig — a younger striker with a higher ceiling.

However, RB Leipzig wanted too much for Sesko and weren’t willing to budge on their lofty asking price.

As a result, Arsenal have opted for Viktor Gyokeres — and the club are keen to point out that they’ve not just taken the easy route.

Viktor Gyokeres has made it clear that he’s keen to join Arsenal and he is available for a lower price in comparison to Sesko.

But sporting director Andrea Berta still believes that the move is an incredibly ambitious one for the club.

Martin Keown is seriously excited to see Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal

That being said, Arsenal legend Martin Keown has now offered his thoughts on the transfer on talkSPORT.

Keown was quizzed about Arsenal’s transfers as a whole so far this summer, including Martin Zubimendi who’s just joined from Real Sociedad.

But it was perhaps telling that the former Arsenal defender chose to focus on Gyokeres, who he believes will be an outstanding pick up for Mikel Arteta.

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Sharing his view, Keown said: “There’s not a lot wrong with the squad but they needed to add in certain positions, we’ve been crying out for a centre-forward due to the injuries that they had.

“This guy (Gyokeres) you know is rock solid, you can play the ball into him, he holds it up well, he has pace, power and I think he’s quite emphatic in front of goal — just what Arsenal need.

“He just now needs to do his talking on the pitch.”

Of course, Gyokeres has done a lot of on-the-pitch talking in Portugal, scoring 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting.

Gyokeres’ arrival could change Arsenal’s left wing plans

Although Zubimendi and Gyokeres would represent significant outlays for Arsenal, Berta’s business won’t stop there.

Arsenal also want to sign a left winger and the Gunners are looking at more than one possible addition right now.

Arsenal want to sign Rodrygo from Real Madrid, but it remains to be seen if the Brazilian will decide to leave the Santiago Bernabeu.

And in terms of the club’s planning, they can now look for a winger who will get the best out of Gyokeres, who often looks to get in behind.

Martin Odegaard might be delighted to see Arsenal sign Gyokeres for example, a player he’ll definitely assist throughout the season.

And Arteta will now need to consider whether Rodrygo, who would often cut inside from the left wing, would be the best player to help Gyokeres thrive at Arsenal.

Or whether a more traditional touchline winger, perhaps like Gabriel Martinelli, might be a better fit.