Jeremie Aliadiere: Arsenal Making Mistake With Viktor Gyokeres

· GiveMeSport

The Sweden international has only played 12 minutes of Premier League football this season

Arsenal are misusing Viktor Gyokeres following a difficult start to the season for the Sweden international, according to former Gunners forward Jeremie Aliadiere.

The Sweden international joined Arsenal last summer from Sporting Lisbon in a deal worth an initial £55m , and he ended the 2025-26 campaign as the club's top goalscorer with 21 goals in all competitions, having scored 97 times in 102 games for the Portuguese club.

It was always going to take the 28-year-old some time to get used to playing for an elite club and in the Premier League, and he would have been hoping to kick on again this season.

However, there were a lot of rumours regarding a potential exit for him over the summer as the club targeted a move for Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez, including talk of a potential player-plus-cash deal, with GIVEMESPORT senior correspondent Ben Jacobs confirming that the former Coventry City man wasn't entirely 'unsellable' in recent months.

While Gyokeres played 73 minutes of the Champions League win against Napoli last week, he has been limited to just 12 minutes of football in the Premier League under Mikel Arteta, and was once again an unused substitute for the win against Sunderland on the weekend.

Arteta is very much prioritising Kai Havertz right now following the German's injury issues last season, and he is delivering for the north London outfit.

In an exclusive interview with LiveFootballTickets.com , former Gunners star Jeremie Aliadiere says he is concerned at how Arsenal are using Gyokeres, and they won't get the best out of him in that way.

He has also told the Sweden international to keep his head held high, and make the most of his next opportunity.

Aliadiere said:

> "I think he’s just got to be patient, keep the faith, have a strong mindset and mentality and really believe in his quality and that he will turn things around.

> "Obviously, I know how difficult it is when suddenly you’re not playing and you’re on the bench and you don’t really understand why.

> "When you look at it, he was the top scorer last year. Obviously there was some criticism and people expected more for the money invested, but in the end he did deliver. I think he scored some important goals and he gives you something different.

> My only concern is that I just feel we’re not playing the style that suits him, and that’s more my concern. Mikel always seems to go back to Havertz. Even after Havertz was out for a long time, he brought Havertz back in for the big games because Havertz fits the way we play and the style we play.

> "We’re not a team that, in transition, just hits the long ball straight away for the striker to run the channels. That’s not really what we do. We like possession, we like to keep the ball and we like to go wide to our wingers.

> "I do feel sometimes, particularly last season, Viktor struggled because he wanted the ball quickly, to be one-v-one with a defender and run the channel, and he never really got that service.

> "So my question is more: can we play with him in this team? And we can’t deny when we watch the games that when Havertz plays, he performs and does really well.

> "It’s tough to justify saying Viktor should be in and Havertz should be on the bench when Havertz is doing so well."

All the signs are that this will be Gyokeres' last season as an Arsenal player.

The fact that the Gunners were willing to sell him over the summer tells you all you need to know, as well as the fact that Arteta clearly prefers Havertz over him.

What is probably the most worrying thing for the Swede is not even the lack of starts in the Premier League, but just the lack of minutes in general.

12 minutes in four top flight matches is not the sign of a player who is hugely rated by his manager, and unless Havertz suffers a bad injury, it's hard to see how there is a way back for him at the Emirates.

As Aliadiere says, if Gyokeres wants to extend his future at Arsenal beyond this season, he needs to perform well when he is on the pitch, to prove his doubters wrong.

The 28-year-old not being a clear stylistic fit is clearly an issue, and perhaps he can adapt in some ways to be more like Havertz.

However, an exit appears the most likely option, especially if Arsenal can finally make progress on a deal for Alvarez.

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