Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and striker Victor Gokeres (Photo: Justin Setterfield, Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Arsenal must be starting to regret signing Victor Gokeres this summer after he clearly struggled to adapt to the Premier League.
Gökeres achieved great success with his former club Sporting Lisbon, making 102 appearances in two seasons and finding the back of the net an astonishing 97 times.
That’s why Arsenal paid £64m to sign the Sweden international from Sporting last summer (fees via BBC Sport). This looks like an exciting deal, giving Mikel Arteta a more natural goalscorer than other forwards such as Kai Havertz or Gabriel Jesus.
However, Arsenal will wonder whether this was the right decision, as Gokeres has not made such an outstanding performance since coming to what is clearly a far more competitive league.
Victor Gokeres of Arsenal this season vs. Sporting last season
Even if he is never likely to score as many goals at Arsenal as he did with Sporting, Gokeres will need to develop quickly as his numbers so far have been well below the club’s expectations.
Check out the key stats below on how the 27-year-old has been doing for Arsenal this season, compared to how he played for Sporting last season…
| Victor Gokeres | game | the goal | Goals per game |
| 24 hours/25 days sports | 52 | 54 | 1.03 |
| Arsenal 25/26 | twenty four | 7 | 0.29 |
Spending big money on a player who has never played in the Premier League is probably always going to be a bit of a gamble, but should Arsenal have chosen to go all-in on a player who has already shown he can play at this level?
Because just a few months ago, that very thing almost happened when they tried to sign Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa.
The England international has scored 82 goals in 205 Premier League games for Villa, and BBC Sport reported in January last year that the Gunners had attempted to sign him for £60m.
This isn’t a huge difference in terms of fee, but it’s definitely a much safer option to give the AFC the goal threat they need, and it’s still slightly less.
Could Ollie Watkins get the job at Arsenal?
Watkins is a key player in this impressive Villa side, but it’s worth noting that his own form has declined slightly this season.
The 30-year-old has scored seven goals in 28 games in all competitions so far this season, and is unlikely to match last year’s 17, and is almost certain to fall short of his 27 goals last year.
Still, if we look at other important metrics, as in the graph below, we can also see that Watkins offers a better all-around play than Gokeres…
There are no guarantees in football and Gokeres has disappointed alongside other big names such as Alexander Isak and Florian Wirths this season, but Watkins appears to have been an option worth considering for Arsenal.
The Villa frontman may only offer a similar goal threat, but in terms of touches and creating chances for his team-mates, he is a force to be reckoned with for defenders.
Arsenal ultimately decided the deal wasn’t worth it and took Gokeres instead, but how long will they live to regret it?
