Viktor Gyokeres brings patented celebration to Arsenal and the Premier League
Photo Credit: Arsenal FC
On July 26, Arsenal completed the signing of Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP for a $74.2 million (plus add-ons) transfer fee. The long-awaited move was made official after multiple weeks of difficult negotiations between the clubs and Gyokeres’ agent.
“I always want to score,” said Gyokeres in his first Arsenal interview. “To be a part of this club and to score in this kit and with this badge in front of all the supporters, I can't wait. It will be an amazing feeling.”
The 27-year-old scored 97 goals in all competitions for Sporting over the past two seasons. His 54 goals last season were the most by any player from a top-flight club. He scored 39 goals in Liga Portugal last season and scored 29 the year before, playing 33 games in each of those seasons. Gyokeres would have won the Premier League Golden Boot both of those years.
He won the Liga Portugal Golden Boot in 2023-24 and 2024-25. He was named the league’s Player of the Year in 2023-24 and was named to the Liga Portugal Team of the Season on both occasions.
"The consistency he [Viktor] has shown in his performances and availability have been outstanding, and his goal contributions speak for themselves, said Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta.
"Viktor has so many qualities. He is a quick and powerful presence up front, with incredible goal-scoring numbers at club and international levels. He brings a clinical edge with a high conversion rate of chances into goals, with his intelligent movement in the box making him a constant threat.”
Arsenal fans have been eager for the club to bring in a world-class striker who will bag goals week in and week out. The team has struggled to find consistent scoring from the striker position over the years, mainly due to injuries and players being forced to play out of position.
Since the club began its run of three consecutive second-place finishes in the Premier League, they have relied on Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, and Eddie Nketiah at the striker position. Havertz had a strong debut season in 2023-24, scoring 14 goals in 47 games. Havertz scored 13 goals last season, but missed 23 games due to injury. Jesus was supposed to be Arteta’s answer up top when he signed for the Gunners in 2022, but the Brazilian has missed more than 50 games through injury during his Arsenal tenure. Jesus has 26 goals in 96 games played for Arsenal and is currently recovering from an ACL tear suffered in January. Nketiah, who was transferred to Crystal Palace last season, scored 38 goals in 168 games for Arsenal.
Arsenal haven’t had a player win the Premier League Golden Boot since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (22 goals) in 2018-19, when the Gabonese striker shared the award with Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. Robin Van Persie (30) in 2011-12 was the last Arsenal player to take home sole possession of the Golden Boot award.
No Arsenal player had double-digit goals last season, and due to long-term injuries to Havertz and Jesus, and a lack of depth at the position, Arteta was forced to play Mikel Merino - traditionally a central midfielder - as a makeshift striker. Arsenal strikers had a 16.5 percent shot conversion rate in the Premier League last season. Playing out of position, Merino (18.4%) ranked 15th among qualified strikers, while Havertz (17.0%) ranked 25th. Gyokeres had a 28.1 percent shot conversion rate in Portugal last season, which would have ranked first among Premier League strikers.
"We know how good he is, it's scary to play against him," said Arsenal center back William Saliba. "Of course, I'm so happy to have him in my club and I'm sure that he will help us to win games and win trophies.
"[He is scary] because when you face a striker who scores goals, you have to be focused! But now he's in our team and he will score for us, so that's good.“
Gyokeres played against Arsenal for Sporting in the Champions League league phase last season. Gyokeres dominated the Champions League last season, scoring six goals in eight games, including a hat trick against Arsenal’s Premier League rivals, Manchester City.
Against Arsenal, Gyokeres didn’t find the back of the net, but proved to be a dangerous force up top, as mentioned by Saliba. The 27-year-old created the most chances in the match (three) and hit the woodwork with one of his five shots. Arsenal came away with a resounding 5-1 victory in Portugal.
“I just felt that it was the right club for me,” Gyokeres said. “What I heard from Mikel and Andrea [Berta] when I was speaking with them, and just what I've seen in the past years, how they've been playing football. 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 all the history the club has and the massive fanbase. It's been amazing to see all the support that they have already given me before I even arrived. That's what it's all about. It's going to be very nice to see them in the stadiums as well.”
It was during that game that Arsenal fans started to notice Gyokeres’ trademark goal celebration. When Gyokeres scores, which has happened a lot over the past few years, the striker intertwines his hands to make a mask that he covers his face with. All you can see are his eyes and forehead, similar to the DC Comics supervillain, Bane.
Arsenal center back Gabriel copied the celebration after scoring his team’s third goal of the game in Portugal. There had already been rumors swirling around Gyokeres coming to Arsenal soon, so the mimicked celebration added fuel to the fire.
The celebration was invented when Gyokeres’ friends told him he needed his own unique celebration.
“I think it was during the World Cup break in 2022, so I had some time off,” Gyokeres said. “We went on vacation together, me and my friends. When we were going, we were talking about that and during that time, we just came up with it after a while.
“We thought it looked good, and I started doing it straight away. It felt even better on the pitch.”
Arsenal fans will now get to see his goal celebration at the Emirates Stadium, but this won’t be the first time the Swedish international has taken the pitch in North London.
Gyokeres is no stranger to English football. The striker played 116 games for English Football League Championship side Coventry City, scoring 43 goals from 2020-21 to 2022-23. The 27-year-old also had stints with Championship side Swansea City and Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion. While Gyokeres never played in the Premier League for Brighton, he played in the Premier League 2 for Brighton’s Under-23 team, scoring 14 goals in 31 appearances. In 2018, Gyokeres started for Brighton’s U-23s against Arsenal’s U-23s in a Premier League 2 match. Along with Gyokeres, the game also featured current Arsenal players Bukayo Saka, Reiss Nelson, and Ben White, who was a teammate of Gyokeres at Brighton. Gyokeres did play eight times for Brighton’s senior team in non-Premier League competitions. He scored his lone goal in the Carabao Cup.
“I started here [in England], it feels like a long time ago,” Gyokeres said. “I think I've improved a lot since then. Now I want to prove myself for real and perform together with the team.”
A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Gyokeres made his debut for his country’s senior national team at the age of 20. He dominated the international youth ranks, scoring five goals in nine games for the U-19s, scoring three goals in four games for the U-20s, and scoring four goals in eight games for the U-21s.
Gyokeres has scored 15 goals in 26 games for the senior national team since making his debut in 2019. 10 of those goals came in 11 UEFA Nations League games.
“It's a big honor to play for your country, and then to score goals for them is amazing,” Gyokeres said. When I played at Sporting, I scored a few goals in the Champions League so I feel that I can be on that level as well. Now to come here to a club on Arsenal's level, I think it's going to help me perform even better with all the amazing players in this team. I'm really excited to get going.”
Gyokeres will sport the historic No. 14 shirt, made famous by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry. Per The Athletic, shirt sales for Gyokeres have broken Arsenal’s previous record. The club offered free Gyokeres name and number printing for fans who bought one of the club’s new home or away kits.
Arsenal’s newest signing joined his new teammates in Singapore for the club’s preseason tour. Gyokeres has started training with the team and could be available to make his Arsenal debut in Hong Kong on Thursday, July 31, against North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
