By Tony Attwood
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There is a piece in the Guardian which says, “Gyökeres has made no secret of his desire for a new challenge, having scored 54 goals for Sporting last season”. Sadly, no details are given as to how, where and when these goals came, but it most certainly looks as if the number is either exaxaggerated or includes some friendlies, cup games and the like.
For the official figures show that the player palyed 33 league games last season and scored 39 gaols for Sporting. Quite where the remaining 15 goals came from is not explained. One is tempted to suggest that figures like this are invented so that if the player fails to match such incredible goal scoring form again Arsenal will immediately be blamed, the palyer’s confidence undermined, and within a mmonth or two he will be asking for a transfer and being called in the media another “Arsenal flop”.
So I thought it mgiht be a good idea to take the most reliable informaton I can find on his performance and try and set the record if not straight, then at least a little bit straighter than is being presented elsewhere.
From the data I can find in 2021/2 playing with Coventry our new forward got 17 goals in 45 games. Then in 2022/23 he got 21 goals in 46 games. Impressive indeed but not at the level suggested – and that was in the Championship.
Then he moved to Sporting CP in Portugal and got 29 goals in 33 games in 2023/24 and then 39 goals in 33 games last season which is extraordinary – although I can’t check how many of these games were league games. And there is the worry that clubs at the bottom of the Portuguese league tend to have leaky defences.
So then I thought I had better take a look at the Portuguese league
Last season Sporting played 34 league games and scored 88 goals. This we might compare with Arsenal two seasons ago (not last season, because of the huge level of injuries then, but the season before when injuries were at a more normal level). Arsenal played 38 games and scored 911 goals.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | GPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 91 | 29 | 62 | 89 | 2.39 |
|
|
34
|
25
|
7
|
2
|
88
|
27
|
61
|
82
|
2.59
|
Sporting, therefore, had a higher goals-per-game ratio than Arsenal in the injury-inflicted season. And of course, the first thought is that having got away with kicking Arsenal’s forward line to bits last campaign the opposition might well try this again, again with possible referee collusion. However, unless Arsennal sell Havertz the club will have the advantage of being able to play one of Havertz or Gyökeres for the first hour, and then, with the opposition tiring, swap the players over for the last half hour and get a few more goals.
Of course, the big danger is that Gyökeres will take a while to settle into the unique characteristics both of the ways of Premier League defenders and the unique approach of PGMO officials. He might be warned that refereeing is different in England, but until it hits him round the ankles he may find that hard to believe.
So having the two players who can play centre forward and be able to swap them around, this could be an interesting, if unproven, tactic. It also means that Arsenal can avoid rushing a player back from the inevitable injuries he will get given the laissez-faire approach that the PGMO was taking with tackling last season.
However, the notion that Gyökeres was scoring over 50 a season is worrying. I can’t see how this figure comes about, and the only reason I can see for running it is to implant it in the minds of suggestible supporters and devious journalists, who will then complain that yet again Arteta has purchased a flop and Arsenal have been conned.
Meanwhile, the club has also signed Martín Zubimendi. He looks interesting from many angles, including the fact that he apparently turned down Liverpool a year ago, but has gone to Arsenal with a five-year contract. He was also being chased by Real Madrid, who chose to ignore the fact of the signing of a pre-contract agreement between the player and Arsenal.
But that of course, is what they do, and little mention of this has found its way into the English media.
