Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen is still far from convinced that Arsenal striker Victor Gyokeres will be the Gunners’ long-term starting striker.
The Sweden international showed his worth to Arsenal on Sunday in his most complete performance since joining by scoring two goals as the Gunners beat arch-rivals Tottenham 4-1 in the North London Derby.
Gyokeres, who scored 97 goals in 102 matches for Sporting CP, has received a lot of stick this season after failing to hit the ground running at the Emirates Stadium following his £64m summer move.
Despite the Arsenal striker’s brilliant display against Spurs, Owen is still unsure whether his long-term future will be with the Gunners.
Owen told Premier League Productions: “I like this lad in so many aspects but I think he’s got so many weaknesses as well.
“To be Arsenal’s centre forward for the long-term, am I getting carried away about just one game? No I’m not, I still think the questions are out there.
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“What you cannot question with this lad is his work rate. He’s a fantastic runner, he times his runs well. He knows where the goal is, he arcs his runs well to stay onside and he is lethal in front of goal. He’s one of the very best finishers in the Premier League.
“This year I think he’s top goalscorer in he Premier League, this calendar year. He’s coming into a bit of form just when they need him.”
Fellow pundit Ashley Young added: “They definitely do need him to be in form.
“You’re going into the most vital part of the season now. When you’ve got City breathing down your necks you need your striker to be scoring goals.
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“If he’s scoring this many goals this year so far you want him keep building, keep that confidence, keep being in front of goal and finishing like the way he has.”
Gyokeres insisted, after the match against Tottenham, that the win over their arch-rivals was the “perfect way to respond” to their recent poor form.
The Arsenal striker said: “It’s always going to be difficult when you get a result like we had at Wolves, but it’s how you handle that, and how you respond to it, and today we showed that it in a good way.
“To get this result and this performance, it was the perfect way to respond. So, it’s a good sign. The thing is, that we have to keep showing it in the next game and the game after that. There’s a lot of games to go. But if we perform like this, it’s going to be good, for sure.”