Viktor Gyokeres has said he still has plenty of room for improvement and is not the complete player after his Arsenal career has come to life.
The striker scored twice after coming on as a second-half substitute in Saturday’s 3-0 win at home to Sunderland to bring his tally to six goals in eight matches in all competitions for Mikel Arteta’s side.
This run of form followed a lengthy dry spell during the first half of the season, with the 27-year-old managing to score just seven times in 22 appearances.
“I can always improve things,” Gyokeres told a group of reporters including The Athletic on Saturday night. “I am not a complete player and the best in every aspect.
“I think that is a good feeling to have as a footballer because you can always do better and always improve. I hope I will feel that all the time.”
Gyokeres’ brace against Sunderland also took him above Leandro Trossard as the club’s top scorer in the Premier League this season, with six goals. Saturday’s match was only the third time he had started a league game he was fit to play in from the bench in the league, with Arteta picking Gabriel Jesus to lead the line.
The Sweden international’s struggles were amplified during the first half of the campaign due to injuries to Kai Havertz and Jesus, meaning Arteta had no other choice but to persist with Gyokeres.
But after arriving at the club from Sporting CP — where he had scored 97 times in 102 matches — as their marquee signing in a deal worth an initial €63.5million plus €10m in possible add-ons, and with Havertz and Jesus now able to share the goalscoring burden, Gyokeres appeared to have turned a corner.
“Of course you want to contribute that way as a striker and score goals,” he added when asked to reflect on his current run of form.
“I am happy, but there are still a lot of games left. I have to keep going like that and, as a team, we have to keep winning games, so, yeah, there is a lot to play for.”
Reflecting on what was a difficult start to life on the pitch at Arsenal, which was not aided by a muscular injury he sustained at the beginning of November, Gyokeres conceded it has not been straight forward.
“I think it is a lot of things,” he said of his initial struggles. “You change everything in your life and to adapt to that as quickly as possible is a challenge.
“We kept winning games, which is the most important thing, and then of course you want to be at your best personally as well. You try to keep believing and doing the right things to show the best side of yourself. That’s what I try to do everyday.
“For me, it has been trying to do the same things and not change too much because if it has been working before, then I think the most important thing is to do it the same way.
“Of course you adapt to the way we play but you keep believing in yourself. You can look back at things you have done, but you have to do it again and go into games with that feeling you had when you were scoring and not be in another state of mind.
“I think that is the most important thing to have.”