Joleon Lescott has named two Premier League strikers Arsenal ‘must have signed’ as an alternative of Viktor Gyokeres.
Gyokeres has endured an underwhelming first season on the Emirates Stadium following his £64m summer move from Sporting.
The 27-year-old scored almost a goal a game in Portugal but has been nowhere near as prolific within the Premier League, netting 11 in 29 games.
Gyokeres has improved because the turn of the Recent 12 months but Arsenal fans still expected more from a player who was seen as the ultimate piece of the jigsaw in Mikel Arteta’s squad.
Sweden international Gyokeres has even dropped out of the team in some games and Lescott believes that is all of the evidence needed to indicate his signing was a mistake.
Arsenal did need a brand new No.9 last summer but Lescott believes they need to have signed Joao Pedro or Hugo Ekitike as an alternative of Gyokeres.
Pedro has scored 19 goals in all competitions since his £60m move to Chelsea last summer, while Ekitike has 17 goals since joining Liverpool for slightly under £80m.
‘I assumed Viktor Gyokeres was brought in to start out for Arsenal,’ former England, Manchester City, Wolves and Everton defender Lescott told Sky Bet.
‘You’re not spending that amount of cash, having identified that position, for him to not play. Surely, he’s been brought in to play in all the large games.
‘They brought in Gyokeres because they thought he was the most effective of the available strikers.
‘It’s easy to say now that Arsenal must have gone for Hugo Ekitike. Joao Pedro is one other striker I don’t know why Arsenal didn’t buy.’
Gyokeres will not be the one Arsenal summer signing to have struggled at times, with Eberechi Eze also going through a difficult spell earlier within the season – although his form has picked up in recent weeks.
Asked about Eze’s start at Arsenal, Lescott added: ‘He’s found his position at Arsenal, but he hasn’t found the rhythm yet.
‘His struggles are only all the way down to current form – we will get carried away and think, “It’s never going to work”. Having gone there and now needing to perform is barely different when you’ve previously been given the liberty to make mistakes.
‘He knows that when you’re playing for a top team, where competition is so strong, you can’t are available in and never perform. You need to – otherwise you’re coming off.’
Arsenal head into their Premier League clash with Bournemouth on Saturday with a nine point cushion over title rivals Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s men do have a game in hand, nonetheless, and the Gunners must still travel to the Etihad on April 19.
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