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Scout who discovered Gyokeres says Arteta must do one thing and he’ll be ‘perfect for the Premier League’

Giuseppe Labellarte

Wed 30 July 2025 6:15, UK

One of Viktor Gyokeres’ colleagues at Brommapojkarna has sent a message to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta over how to get the best out of him in the Premier League.

The Gunners have finally got themselves a new No. 9, Arsenal striking a £64million deal for Gyokeres with Portuguese side Sporting CP after weeks of negotiations.

Gyokeres joins Arsenal after a prolific spell at Sporting, in which he registered a staggering 97 goals and 28 assists from 102 outings.

Brommapojkarna scout David Eklund, who discovered Gyokeres when he was at Swedish fourth-tier side Aspudden-Tellus, spoke at length about the new Arsenal signing.

Mikel Arteta urged to play Viktor Gyokeres every week

Eklund, speaking to The Athletic alongside other former colleagues of Gyokeres, stressed that the new Arsenal signing will benefit from being a regular starter.

“He needs to play every week,” he said. “He’s perfect for the Premier League.”

Dale Stephens, who trained alongside Gyokeres at Brighton & Hove Albion, agreed, adding: “He has all the attributes.

“I suppose it’ll be: Can he do it in the big games?

“But I don’t think Arsenal will look at this as a risk. They will have looked at him against the top teams in the Champions League.”

Former Coventry City teammate Ben Sheaf added: “He’s not just a machine that can run through people and bully defenders. He can play more intricately.

“He’s going to have to adapt his game, but he’s only going to get better.”

READ MORE: Viktor Gyokeres’ ‘relentless’ behind-the-scenes training habits will delight Arsenal fans

How David Eklund helped Viktor Gyokeres get his big break

Eklund explained how he discovered Gyokeres and how he arranged for him to join Brommapojkarna’s academy from Aspudden-Tellus.

“I followed him for a while, watching him once a month, and made the first attempt to get him when he was 13,” Eklund said. “I kept in contact with his father for the next couple of years.

“We played technical football, so it (his lack of finesse at that stage) was a bit of an issue, but sometimes you can just go for technical players and they don’t work.

“His goalscoring was so good, it boded well for the future, and working with our coaches would improve him.”

Eklund then explained how he helped Gyokeres get his big break in Brommapojkarna’s academy.

“I remember the first team had a lot of injured players in 2015,” recalled Eklund.

“And the coach called me and asked if we had any academy players who were strong enough to play for the first team.

“I said, ‘Yes, Viktor Gyokeres is strong enough to play there.’ That was when he was 16.

“They took him and, the year after that, he started to do really well. He was like a grown man.”