Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres conundrum: Do Gunners already need to upgrade on $86 million summer signing?

Last week was unquestionably the best of Viktor Gyokeres' Arsenal career so far. On Wednesday, the £64 million ($86m) summer signing confidently converted a penalty in the Gunners' 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Metropolitano. Three days later, Gyokeres scored two goals and created another in a 3-0 win over Fulham that extended Arsenal's advantage at the top of the Premier League to six points.

In doing so, the Sweden international became just the second Arsenal player this century to score 20+ goals in all competitions in their debut season in north London. With Arsenal still having three games to play in the Premier League and maybe also another two in the Champions League, Gyokeres could yet surpass Alexis Sanchez's tally (25) from the 2014-15 season.

And yet, if recent reports are to be believed, Mikel Arteta would still rather have Julian Alvarez starting up front for Arsenal in Tuesday's return clash with Atletico at the Emirates, rather than a centre-forward who seems to have belatedly settled into his new surroundings.

So, would it make sense for Arsenal to be already lining up potential Gyokeres replacements? Or is he now perfectly poised to prove himself the answer to Arteta's striking problem?

Underwhelming start

Gyokeres was touted as the missing link in Arsenal's attack when he signed from Sporting CP last July, the prolific goal-scorer Arteta's perennial Premier League runners-up had been lacking for so long.

During his two seasons in Lisbon, Gyokeres had scored more league goals than any other player across Europe's Top 10 championships - 68, to be precise, and in just 66 games. Nobody expected him to maintain that ridiculous strike-rate in England's top-flight, but the degree to which he struggled during the first half of the season surprised many observers.

Arteta attributed Gyokeres' initial struggles to a truncated pre-season

'Is he elite?'

Of course, strikers shouldn't be solely judged by the amount of touches they have during a game - just look at Erling Haaland - but the problem was that Gyokeres wasn't making up for his lack of involvement with decisive contributions in the penalty area.

The 27-year-old netted just five times in his first 21 Premier League appearances - and two of those goals came from the penalty spot. It, thus, came as no surprise to hear the likes of

"In the biggest games, he has looked a little bit short," the former Liverpool defender said on

However, Carragher was also keen to stress that it wasn't as if Gyokeres was missing loads of chances; it was more than he wasn't getting many: "People keep saying 'Arsenal's problem is finishing' but it's not, it's creating. They don't create enough."

'Why not play to his strengths?'

Arsenal's inability to generate opportunities from open play has become a recurring issue the longer the season has gone on, and former Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea striker Chris Sutton has argued that they've hardly helped themselves by denying Gyokeres the kind of service he thrives on.

"He's a big, physical striker, yet when they have the ball in wide areas they neglect to cross the ball in,"

"He's not the cleverest player, but he is a grafter and he is a channel runner. They need to give him a chance because this is not a free-scoring Arsenal team.

"People have questioned him because he's the Arsenal guy that's meant to make a difference and he has done alright this season. But if you want to score a goal, you have to get chances.

"He's a good finisher, so it doesn't help when you have the ball in a good crossing area and people aren't prepared to take a chance and put the ball in. I understand principles of play, but you can score from crosses - it is allowed!"

'Reminded me of Haaland'

As far as Paul Merson was concerned, Arsenal's reluctance to get the ball to Gyokeres was a reflection of his team-mates' lack of faith in him to do anything positive with it.

"They don't trust him - they never pass to him,"

"He reminded me of Haaland,"

It was definitely

'Big boost'

Gyokeres' early opener on Saturday may have been a tap-in, after some sensational wing play from Bukayo Saka, but it was precisely the kind of goal he was bought to score, while his second was a hugely impressive header, given Leandro Trossard's lofted cross didn't just lack pace, it was also slightly behind him.

Of course, Gyokeres assist probably would have pleased Arteta more than anything else, with the former Coventry City man making a great run in behind to latch onto Eberechi Eze's ball over the top before cleverly putting Saka through to score with a reverse pass.

"He had a great performance,"

"It's going to give him a big boost of energy to him and confidence to the team as well."

Decisive month

Gyokeres' little purple patch certainly couldn't have come at a better time, both from Arsenal's perspective and his own. He's played his part in Arteta's men recovering from a dramatic dip in form to put themselves back in contention to win both the Premier League and the Champions League. Consequently, he's certain to start against Atletico on Tuesday - and yet the common consensus is that he'd be on the bench were Kai Havertz fit to feature.

Indeed, it was extremely significant that Arteta went with the German up front for last month's crucial clash with Premier League title rivals Manchester City at the Etihad, because the feeling is that Havertz offers more than Gyokeres in terms of pressing and link-up play.

Looking at the bigger picture, though, Havertz can't be relied upon to stay fit, much like fellow forward Gabriel Jesus, who is heading for the exit door at the Emirates.

As a result, Arsenal are almost certain to sign a striker this summer, and the only real doubt lies over whether they'll bring in

Consequently, the final few games of the season feel just as important for Gyokeres as they do for Arsenal.

"He was put in the team to make sure they beat the lesser teams, and he has done,"

"But he was really good [against Fulham] and that is what they bought him for. Those performances haven't been there week in and week out, but if they are for the next four weeks - then [Arsenal will have made their] money back."

Merson may be oversimplifying the situation a tad - as is his want - but there's no denying that Gyokeres will, like any truly elite striker, be judged not only by the amount of goals he scores this season, but how many arrive in the games that really matter. In that sense, we actually could have a definitive answer to Arsenal's Gyokeres conundrum by the end of the month.