Mikel Arteta warned rivals that Viktor Gyokeres can ‘destroy’ defences after he scored his first Arsenal goal in their final pre-season fixture.
The Gunners signed the £64million striker from Sporting Lisbon last month, ending a long wait of adding a No9 to their ranks.
Gyokeres made a 13-minute cameo on his debut for the north London club in a 1-0 defeat to north London rivals Tottenham in Hong Kong, before also failing to net against Villarreal on Wednesday.
Yet he made it third time lucky on Saturday with the visit of Athletic Bilbao. The 27-year-old netted the opener in their 3-0 Emirates Cup win with a thumping header from fellow summer signing Martin Zubimendi’s cross.
Gyokeres scored just five times with his head for Sporting across 102 appearances in Portugal — leading to jibes from rival supporters that Arsenal’s new frontman can’t net headers.
However, he proved doubters wrong with his goal. Bukayo Saka netted just moments later to put the Gunners 2-0 ahead at half-time before Kai Havertz added a third late on.
Mikel Arteta has warned Premier League rivals that Viktor Gyokeres can ‘destroy’ defences
The 27-year-old broke his scoring duck during Arsenal’s 3-0 victory against Athletic Club
Gyokeres netted the opener with a header from fellow new signing Martin Zubimendi’s cross
Arsenal face Manchester United in their Premier League opening match next Sunday.
Arteta said: ‘That first goal is always very important. The way he took it as well, really well.
‘Everything that he does, his movement, timing, the way he predicates the next move, where the space is going to be, that’s the instinct he has. That’s why he’s scored so many goals in the last few seasons.
‘He pins both centre backs. He’s a player that if you leave him with space one against one, he’s gonna destroy you so he’s going to create a lot of space for us.
‘In any situation there is a player there that can score a goal.’
