Alan Shearer risks wrath of Arsenal supporters as he makes bold Viktor Gyokeres claim

Alan Shearer has said that Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres is ‘far from’ the level of some of Europe’s best strikers, following his start to life at the Emirates Stadium.

Gyokeres joined Arsenal in a £63.5 million deal from Sporting CP the summer transfer window. He grabbed the attention of a lot of big European teams with his goal-scoring exploits in Portugal.

During his time with Sporting, he scored 97 goals in 102 appearances in all competitions. But he has beenunable to get anywhere near to that record with Arsenal so far.

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In his 11 appearances for the club, he has scored three times. The 1-0 win over Fulham on Saturday was his seventh game in all competitions without a goal or an assist.

Speaking on Match of the Day, Shearer has given an honest assessment of the striker. He also pointed out how he has improved the Gunners in the attacking third.

“He’s not in the league of the three we showed in the previous clip [Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe], far from that,” he said.

“But I think he brings a different strength, there’s no doubt that he will have to improve his goalscoring, as you said, he’s only got three.

“But one of his strengths which has suited Arsenal is he actually goes in behind. When he does that it creates space for others to play because last season you had [Kai] Havertz or [Mikel] Merino coming short and that’s easier for teams to defend against.

“When you’re running the other way they get deeper and deeper and that then opens up space for others to play. I think from that point of view he has improved Arsenal.”

When asked if he will get goals for Arsenal, Shearer added: “I think he will get the goals, obviously, nowhere near as many as he got last season.

“But he will get goals with the number of chances that Arsenal create, he will, and his numbers should improve.”

Gyokeres will have the chance to get on the scoresheet again when the Gunners host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League group stage on Tuesday night (8pm kick-off).