Tony Pulis has admitted he was not surprised that a 'desperate' Arsenal completed a £63.7 million deal for Viktor Gyokeres, but the former Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion manager is astonished that no Premier League club took a chance on the Swedish striker during his time at Coventry City.
Gyokeres, 27, joined Arsenal from Sporting Lisbon after contributing 97 goals and 28 assists in 102 appearances for the Portuguese club. Mikel Arteta's side, who have finished second in the Premier League for three consecutive seasons, have long sought a prolific centre-forward, and Pulis believes the pressure on Arteta to secure one played a part in the transfer.
Pulis, writing in his BetVictor column, said: 'Mikel Arteta has been under enormous pressure to bring in a centre forward and there is a lot riding on it. But I was very impressed with Gyokeres at Coventry City. I thought he did fantastically well there and I was very, very surprised that a team from the lower level of the Premier League didn't take a chance with him.'
Gyokeres struggled initially at Coventry, managing just three goals in 19 appearances during the 2020-21 campaign, but he found his form the following season with 17 goals and five assists. His final campaign at the club saw him net 21 goals and provide 10 assists, though Coventry fell just short of promotion. Sporting Lisbon then signed him for a club-record £20 million, a fee they have now more than recouped from Arsenal.
Last season, Arsenal boasted the best defensive record in the Premier League, conceding only 34 goals, but scored just 69 league goals – 17 fewer than champions Liverpool and 22 fewer than their own tally of 91 in the 2023-24 campaign. Gyokeres will be expected to address that shortfall, but Pulis warned that the Premier League presents a far sterner test than the Portuguese top flight. 'The Portuguese league is massively different,' Pulis said. 'There are similarities to Holland, in that there are three or four really good teams... but the big clubs have a much higher standard of players and more depth. Those teams end up finishing at the top comfortably, and that’s what will change for Viktor Gyokeres; he is going to be playing against a level of team week in, week out that he isn’t used to, at Arsenal.'
