Viktor Gyokeres has revealed his request to Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard following his summer move from Sporting Lisbon.
The Gunners confirmed over the weekend they had struck a £63.7million deal with the Portuguese giants to complete one of the signings of the summer.
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Arsenal agreed to pay an initial £55m with £8.7m in add-ons for the Sweden international, who scored 97 goals over the past two seasons.
Gyokeres is tasked with helping his new club push for the 2025/26 Premier League title with the Gunners coming second in the last three consecutive seasons.
Club captain Odegaard will also be key to their potential success, and wrote a letter to Arsenal’s new signing to offer his guidance.
“If there is anything you need or any way I can help, just give me a shout,” Gyokeres said whilst from a club-themed card.
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And in a simple response to his new teammate, he said: “Some assists, please, would be nice.”
Odegaard added: “Looking forward to working together and sharing success in the season ahead. All the best, Martin.”
“Very nice,” Gyokeres replied, before reiterating: “Only thing I need is some assists.”
Gyokeres and Odegaard could form a successful partnership in the Arsenal attack given their scoring and assisting efforts last season.
The former netted 54 times in all competitions, with 39 of his efforts coming in Liga Portugal, whilst the latter reached 12 assists.
Arsenal have been longing for a consistent goalscoring striker and will hope Gyokeres will be the man to do that as they look to end a six-year trophy drought.
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How Gyokeres reacted to joining Arsenal
“It’s a very big day for me and everyone around me,” he told Arsenal’s media channels upon his summer switch.
“I’m really excited to get going and to meet everyone in the club, and just to start playing football for this amazing club.”
When asked about choosing Arsenal over European rivals, Gyokeres added: “I just felt that it was the right club for me.
“What I could hear from Mikel and Andrea [Berta, sporting director] when I’ve been speaking with them.
“And just what I’ve seen in the past years, how they’ve been playing football, and when I was playing against Arsenal last season.
“I could really feel it was a very strong team and very difficult to play against. That made me choose Arsenal and of course, the history the club has and the massive fan base.”
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Arsenal have increased their summer spending to north of £200m with the signing of Gyokeres.
Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke and Cristhian Mosquera join the 27-year-old in the list of Gunners summer recruits.
Gyokeres will hope to make his Arsenal debut in the coming weeks as part of their pre-season friendly schedule.
Next up is a north London derby against Tottenham on Thursday before Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao travel to the Emirates Stadium.
Gyokeres’ senior career so far
2014/15 – IF Brommapojkarna – 0 goals and 0 assists in 8 appearances
2015/16 – IF Brommapojkarna – 10 goals and 0 assists in 23 appearances
2016/17 – IF Brommapojkarna – 15 goals and 9 assists in 35 appearances
2017/18 – IF Brommapojkarna – 0 goals and 0 assists in 1 appearance
2018/19 – Brighton – 0 goals and 0 assists in 5 appearances
2019/20 – FC St. Pauli [Loan] – 7 goals and 4 assists in 28 appearances
2020/21 – Brighton, Swansea City [Loan] and Coventry City [Loan] – 5 goals and 1 assist in 34 appearances
2021/22 – Coventry City – 18 goals and 5 assists in 47 appearances
2022/23 – Coventry City – 22 goals and 12 assists in 50 appearances
2023/24 – Sporting Lisbon – 43 goals and 15 assists in 50 appearances
2024/25 – Sporting Lisbon – 54 goals and 13 assists in 52 appearances
