Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has already revealed Viktor Gyokeres’ biggest flaw as his former striker prepares to line up against him for Arsenal.
Gyokeres completed a move to Arsenal from Sporting Lisbon last month, with the Gunners paying an initial fee of £54.8 million.
After the payment of add-ons, the overall cost of the deal will rise to £63.4 million.
The 27-year-old, who has never previously played in the Premier League, was signed by Sporting from Championship side Coventry while Amorim was in charge of the Portuguese club.
He smashed in 43 goals in all competitions during his first full season in Portugal in 2023/24, before following that up with an astonishing 54 goals.
Manchester City fans got a taste of what Gyokeres can produce when he smashed in a Champions League group stage hat-trick against them in what was one of Amorim’s final games in charge.
The Portuguese boss subsequently took over at United in December, and while he was persistently linked with bringing Gyokeres to Old Trafford last season, the Red Devils’ failure to qualify for European football appeared to have put paid to their hopes.
The Sweden international instead moved to north London, and will line up against Amorim on the opening day when Arsenal take on United at Old Trafford.
His opposing manager does at least have an in-depth knowledge of Gyokeres and how United defenders can attempt to stop him.
In March 2024, Amorim gave a surprisingly brutal assessment of exactly where the Swede could still improve his game.
Sporting had just been knocked out of the Europa League at the last 16 stage by Serie A giants Atalanta, with Amorim noting that Gyokeres had not yet learned how to adapt his game to face opposition outside of Portugal.
“There’s a lot Gyokeres needs to improve on,” Amorim stated (via O Jogo).
“He plays the same way against a slow or a fast centre-back. Everything he does in the Portuguese First Division, he does against Atalanta.
“He can still improve his understanding of the game. He still lacks defensive reaction, and all coaches look at that.
“There are many small details he can still improve on, but he gives us a lot. He always stretches the team, lets us rest, wins fouls, and often other teams have to substitute centre-backs because they’re on a yellow card or tired.”
Amorim will be able to bear witness first-hand on Sunday to how much Gyokeres has improved since those comments.
