While it hasn’t been the perfect start to the season for Arsenal, it’s been a pretty good one.
Mikel Arteta’s side have had to play Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Newcastle United in the Premier League, and have come out with seven points out of a possible 12 from those specific games.
Add to that thumping wins over Nottingham Forest and Leeds United, and a good 2-0 win away to Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, and it’s hard not to be optimistic about the campaign ahead.
However, there have still been a few problems here and there, whether it be mounting injuries or a perceived lack of threat, especially when it comes to the club’s new talisman, Viktor Gyokeres.
It’s been a mixed start to life in England for the Swede, which isn’t helped by a former Arsenal striker outperforming him on the continent.
Gyokeres’ start to the season with Arsenal
Now, before the pitchforks and torches come out, it’s worth stating that, despite what some would have you believe online, Gyokeres has not had a terrible start to his Arsenal career, far from it.
However, it’s equally true that, so far anyway, the former Sporting CP star has not been the monstrous goal machine some had thought or hoped he’d be.
For example, while he scored a wonderful goal and a penalty against Leeds, and then got himself another against Forest, it would be fair to say that the 27-year-old has struggled somewhat in the big games.
Granted, a significant reason he hasn’t been able to find the back of the net in the big games is the lack of service he’s received from his teammates, but even then, the very best strikers in world football can create their own chances.
His performance against Newcastle was a bit of a mixed bag as well.
While he held up the ball well at times, made some good runs and even won a penalty, which was then overturned, he still failed to do the most crucial thing: score.
Moreover, there were more than a few moments in which he got his feet stuck under himself, or took a touch too many and lost the ball in an advantageous position.
Yet, with all that said, it’s still early in the season, and as his teammates get more and more comfortable with his style of play, there is every chance he becomes that goal machine so many thought he’d be.
However, as things stand, he is currently being outperformed by a former Arsenal star whom Arteta let leave for free.
The former Arsenal star outperforming Gyokeres
While there are probably a few Arsenal players who could fit this label at the moment, the star in question is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabonese striker joined the Gunners back in the 2018 winter window, and to say he justified his £56m price tag would be a massive understatement.
The former Borussia Dortmund star would go on to become the fastest player in the club’s history to score 50 goals; he’d play a crucial role in their 2020 FA Cup triumph and even wear the captain’s armband at points.
However, after the goals began to dry up, and he fell out with Arteta over discipline and his off-the-pitch behaviour, his contract was terminated by mutual agreement in January 2022, which allowed him to join Barcelona for free in the same month.
He’d only stay in Spain for half a season before spending a dreadful year back in London with Chelsea, after which he made his way to Marseille, and once again regained his out-of-this-world ability.
In a single campaign in the South of France, the former Arsenal star scored 30 goals and provided 11 assists in 51 appearances, but instead of staying on, he made a big-money move to the Saudi Pro League.
Unsurprisingly, the “world-class” striker, as dubbed by Behdad Eghbali, also performed brilliantly in the Middle Eastern state, racking up an impressive tally of 24 goal involvements in 36 games for Al-Qadsiah.
Fortunately, the Laval-born monster felt the urge to return to European football this season and rejoined Marseille in the summer.
Since his return to the French giants, the 36-year-old has once again shown his quality, scoring three goals and providing one assist in just six appearances, totalling 337 minutes.
In other words, he is averaging a goal involvement every 1.5 games, or every 84.25 minutes, which, unfortunately for Arteta and Co, means he’s currently outperforming Gyokeres, and by some margin.
For comparison’s sake, the Swede’s three goal involvements in eight appearances, totalling 572 minutes, come out to an average of one every 2.66 games, or every 190.66 minutes.
Ultimately, it would probably be untrue to claim that Aubameyang is currently a better striker than Gyokeres, but Arsenal fans will be hoping the former Sporting star can start putting the ball in the back of the net more regularly as the season goes on.
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