Arteta Must Sell Gyokeres After Shotless Arsenal Display vs Everton

· GiveMeSport

Mikel Arteta must sell Viktor Gyokeres in January after the Arsenal striker produced another dire display on Saturday against Everton.

Arsenal eased to victory over Everton on Saturday afternoon at the Emirates, and while Mikel Arteta will be delighted with his team's performance, he'll be frustrated by what one of his players produced on the day.

Goals from Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes secured the Gunners the three points, moving Arteta's side level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after the Citizens were beaten by Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime.

While the North Londoners were unspectacular against the Toffees, they controlled the game and were never really in danger of not walking away with the victory. They stifled Everton's attack effectively and used set-pieces to open the game up offensively.

From open play, Arsenal left a lot to be desired, and that was largely because of who led the line for the English champions.

Kai Havertz sustained an injury during the international break for Germany and has since struggled to reproduce the form he showed in the early parts of this season. Against Bayern Munich in midweek, he looked fatigued, producing a flat overall performance, and Arteta subsequently made a change up front for the visit of Everton.

Viktor Gyokeres came in for a rare start, and certainly failed to make the most of this opportunity. The Swede had just 17 touches in his 68 minutes on the pitch, and while some of his hold-up play was neat, he once again took no shots.

This inability to get on the end of Arsenal moves and get efforts off on goal has become a recurring theme for the number nine.

Viktor Gyokeres' Statistics vs Everton

He's now managed just one shot in over 300 minutes across the Premier League and the Champions League this season. The likes of Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze are managing to get shots off in the same team, which clearly suggests that Gyokeres' movement and the timing of his runs haven't been good enough this season.

The former Sporting star did create three chances against David Moyes' side, and while this creative influence should be commended, his job is ultimately to score goals, and he doesn't look remotely capable of doing this at the moment.

Despite finishing Arsenal's Premier League title-winning season as their top scorer, it's become clear that Gyokeres simply isn't at the level Arteta's side require. He also increasingly doesn't look good enough to deputise for Havertz.

The former Chelsea man can't play every minute between now and the end of the season, particularly with his recent injury record, so Arteta will subsequently need to call upon Gyokeres relatively frequently.

Based on what the Sweden international produced against Everton, and in many of his cameo performances so far this season, that is going to be a problem for the Gunners.

Gyokeres' unique selling point last season was that he scored goals, even if he was unable to bring anything else to the table. Now he's taking virtually no shots in almost every game, he's not going to finish the campaign with a respectable goals tally that will justify his place in Arsenal's team.

For this reason, Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta simply have to find a new home for Gyokeres come January. He was vaguely linked with a move away in the summer, which suggests Arsenal's hierarchy have already considered cashing in, and they should act on these considerations in this winter window.

The Gunners are reportedly interested in Bournemouth's Eli Junior Kroupi, who scored 13 goals last season for the Cherries, despite only turning 20 during the summer.

Statistical Comparison 2025/26 (League Only)

If Arsenal can enact a deal with the south coast outfit, whilst sourcing a suitor for Gyokeres, then this is certainly a squad upgrade opportunity they should take mid-way through this season.

All Statistics via FotMob - correct as of 24/08/2026

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