Mikel Arteta spells out the reality Viktor Gyökeres now faces at Arsenal

Even though Arsenal have had a brilliant start to the season, it seems like one of their new stars has not.

Arsenal are currently at the top of the Premier League and Champions League tables, and are slowly building a sizable gap between them and the rest of the competition.

However, it has largely been without as much contribution from Viktor Gyokeres as he would like.

Yes, Gyokeres has scored a few goals here and there, but has largely been ineffective when it matters most. The Swedish striker has not really scored any important goals - even though he has scored in some big games, those have come when Arsenal were already in an advantageous and comfortable position.

That, in turn, has brought a lot of scrutiny towards Gyokeres, who has faced criticism from media, the fanbase and the rest of the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta spells out the reality Viktor Gyökeres now faces at Arsenal

Manager Mikel Arteta was asked about it, and he was kind enough to outline the harsh reality of Gyokeres' situation.

He said: “He’s going to continue to have a lot of noise around him for the next five years. Since day one you sign a number nine for Arsenal with the background that he has. That's part of the life of being Arsenal's number nine and that's it.”

Arteta is spot on with his quotes, as he almost always is. Gyokeres, no matter how well or badly he does at Arsenal, will always be under some sort of scrutiny from now on.

Arsenal players are under the spotlight a fair amount, and solely because of that, every single player that plays for the club gets looked at through the same lens.

Now, the problem with Gyokeres is that he is one of the best players in the world in his position, and he signed for Arsenal for a pretty big fee, so all of that will only make it slightly worse for him.

It was not a bad thing to say from Arteta, either, because it has nothing to do with his form. Yes, it is not at the level any Arsenal fan wants it to be, but people generally find a way to see something bad in good players, and Gyokeres will be no different.

Arteta also recently defended Gyokeres and reassured him that the goals will come.

He said: “[He is] mentally very strong. When I see him train everyday, how he is in meetings, how much he wants to do well, the way he’s working every single match… it will click! One thing is missing at the moment, score more goals.”

Good things, and again, this will be added to the list of things Gyokeres has to work around.