The £64m man made his home debut in a friendly, with Mikel Arteta saying the forward will be ‘in a very good position’ on Saturday
New season, same old Arsenal? On an evening when Viktor Gyökeres was meant to announce himself as the solution to all of Mikel Arteta’s problems, instead it was a figure from Arsenal’s past who stole the show.
At £72m – £8m more than they may end up paying for the Sweden striker – Nicolas Pépé was an expensive Arsenal signing, a few months before Arteta replaced Unai Emery in 2019. Most of the fans who packed out the Emirates Stadium for this pre-season friendly will not have many fond memories of the Ivory Coast international’s spell in north London, but he clearly had a point to prove here.
Written by Ed Aarons at the Emirates Stadium
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/aug/06/viktor-gyokeres-arsenal-villarreal under the title “Viktor Gyökeres labours as Arsenal fall short against Villarreal and Pépé”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
