It was another campaign of coming close but falling short for Arsenal again last year. They almost toppled Manchester City from atop their Premier League throne and ended their two-decade title drought, but ultimately finished second for the second successive year.
That said, there was still plenty to be proud of for the North Londoners, and overall, it was a year of progress for many stars in Mikel Arteta’s squad, including club captain Martin Odegaard.
The Norwegian showed he was a composed and effective leader for his team, but he could have been so much more with a prolific striker ahead of him gobbling up the countless chances he created.
Fortunately for the former Real Madrid wonderkid, recent reports have placed Arsenal at the front of the queue for one of Europe’s most exciting strikers.
Arsenal’s striker search
According to a recent report from Football Transfers, Arsenal have maintained their interest in Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres and have just been handed a massive boost in their pursuit of him.
The report claims that Napoli have pulled out of the race for the Swedish poacher, and only the Gunners and cross-city rivals Chelsea remain in the hunt for his signature.
The former Coventry City ace has a €100m – £84m – release clause in his contract, but both London sides will look to sign him for less than that, and while both clubs would be attractive destinations, the fact the North Londoners have Champions League football to play next season should see them have a slight advantage.
In all, even at a slightly lower fee and with their advantage over Chelsea, it could prove challenging to sign Gyokeres, but if Arsenal want to finally lift that Premier League trophy next season, then bringing the Swede to N5 would be a great way to make that happen – and his partnership with Odegaard would be unreal.
Why Gyokeres would be a brilliant teammate for Odegaard
Now, the primary reason that Gyokeres would be such a transformational teammate for Odegaard is a rather straightforward one: his output.
In just 50 appearances last season, he scored a staggering 43 goals and provided 15 assists. The season prior, while he wasn’t quite as incredible, he still scored 22 goals and provided 12 assists in 50 games.
This means that over two years, the Stockholm-born phenom has averaged a goal involvement every 1.08 games, a level of return that is frankly super-human.
| Gyokeres vs Arsenal’s strikers in 23/24 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Gyokeres | Havertz | Jesus | Nketiah |
| Appearances | 50 | 51 | 36 | 37 |
| Goals | 43 | 14 | 8 | 6 |
| Assists | 15 | 7 | 8 | 3 |
| Goal Involvements per Match | 1.16 | 0.41 | 0.44 | 0.24 |
| All Stats via Transfermarkt | ||||
In contrast, Arsenal’s most prolific striker last season, Kai Havertz, scored 14 goals and provided seven assists in 51 matches, while Gabriel Jesus scored eight goals and produced eight assists in 36 appearances, meaning the pair averaged a goal involvement every 2.42 and 2.25 games respectively.
When you consider their serviceable, if not slightly underwhelming, goalscoring record from last season and then compare that to the fact that Understat claims their captain underperformed his expected assists in the league, it becomes abundantly clear that with a player like the Sporting ace ahead of him, Odegaard could very well start overperforming on his assists.
Moreover, with the 6 foot 2 “powerhouse”, as described by data analyst Ben Mattinson, racking up 27 assists in the last two campaigns, it seems entirely plausible that his presence in Arteta’s team would also help the Norwegian wizard improve his already impressive goalscoring record.
Ultimately, while the Gunners have a handful of talented strikers in their squad, they do not possess a truly prolific number nine. However, if they were to sign Gyokeres this summer, they would, and one of the biggest beneficiaries of this potential move would undoubtedly be Odegaard.
