Viktor Gyokeres faces Arsenal bomb: €65m signing told he’s not trusted

Robin Bairner

7 Feb 2026 09:34 GMT
8 min read

Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres has been told that the Gunners’ other stars don’t trust him in a bombshell update that questions the viability of the 27-year-old to be a long-term solution for Mikel Arteta’s side.

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Gyokeres arrived at the Emirates Stadium in a €65 million deal last summer from Sporting CP, with hopes high that he would have a huge goalscoring impact.

Although Arsenal top the Premier League table, the former Coventry player has not been the difference-maker that fans had hoped. Through 31 games with the club, he has only scored 11 goals, just six of which have come in the Premier League.

Current ETV

Viktor Gyökeres

F (C)

Arsenal

Viktor Gyökeres

F (C)

Arsenal

ETV Range

€67.3M - €82.3M

Arsenal need to trust Gyokeres more

Gunners legend Paul Merson has been impressed with Gyokeres’ attitude but believes that unless he gets more help from his team-mates, he will continue to struggle.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “His confidence is low at the moment but I don’t think they trust him at the moment. I don’t think it’s sticking with him. I watch a lot of Arsenal and he shows, but they just don’t give it to him.

“He does show, he makes good runs down the channel. Sometimes just put it down there for him, he may win a throw-in and that could give him a bit of confidence.

“He touched the ball once in the first 25 minutes against Chelsea. I’m 57 and I’m touching the ball more than once.

“This lad does come up and show up. He’s not hiding away. But just get him into the game, feed him the ball and give him a little bit of confidence.”

Confidence could change everything

Gyokeres is worth persisting with, according to Merson, who believes that if the No.9 can regain some belief will become a different animal.

He added: “If every professional footballer could do one thing, they’d bottle up their confidence. If you have confidence, it’s a completely different game. If he’s not touching the ball, and the way the game is now with stats, stats, stats, you need to keep on giving him a couple of touches and feed him the ball.

“He’s top scorer, but he’s one ahead of own goals. I hope he does well. He’s a hard-working, he doesn’t down tools – but I hope they trust him a lot more.”

Gyokeres struggling compared to Premier League’s best

In terms of goals, it’s been an unimpressive debut campaign in the Premier League for Gyokeres.

With half a dozen goals, he ranks joint 20th in the goalscoring charts. Unlike the other four players he is locked together with – including Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha – he has no assists to his name.

Gyokeres vs Premier League centre-forwards: Overall performance (2025/26)

Data analytics experts SciSports are also deeply unimpressed with his overall displays, too.

He is rated as one of the worst-performing centre forwards in the league.

All this should be seen as a red flag for Arsenal and Arteta, as it may take more than a dose of confidence to get Gyokeres back to his best.

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