Mikel Arteta has revealed how a telephone call convinced him that Viktor Gyokeres was the right striker for Arsenal.
The Gunners had initially spoken to Benjamin Sesko at Red Bull Leipzig, now of Sunday’s opponents Manchester United. He was expensive at £73m, but 22.
Gyokeres was £63.5m but older at 27. The concern, as they processed their data analysis, was whether the Swede would be value for money at that age.
‘The best data was my first phone call with him,’ insists Arteta. ‘When I told him the idea that I had, I wanted to just look at his reaction.
‘I said imagine yourself putting that shirt on, walking into a dressing room where expectation is all around you. How do you handle it?
‘Eyes wide open. Like this. He said: “Pah! That’s my dream!” So that’s the best data.
Mikel Arteta revealed how a phone call convinced him to sign Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal
Arteta was delighted with Gyokeres’ answer over how he would handle pressure at the club
Arsenal initially looked at Benjamin Sesko, who has since moved to rivals Manchester United
‘You can have all the data, but this guy has to come into that room with that pressure into that league. And that for me, that was the most important data.
‘The other data I knew is how this guy is going to behave when he comes onto that pitch, with that security, with that dominance and with that arrogance almost to say, don’t worry, I will do it.
‘Now we have someone with a unique ability to put the ball in the back of the net. And he’s probably done that more than almost anybody in Europe over recent seasons.’
Recruiting such a prolific striker should satisfy Arsenal’s detractors who have criticised their inability to make that final step in recent seasons from nearly men runners-up to Premier League champions.
But, talking to Men In Blazers Network, Arteta put last season’s failings into perspective.
‘A lot of things have to go right for a team to finish second in the Premier League but what we missed was some top, top players,’ he added.
‘Players we have to have on the pitch to impact results. For four or five months we missed them and it was not just one, it was four or five of them. That’s why we came short.
‘The message to the team this time is that we are like a volcano, ready to explode. We have everything there now, we are ready to go, and we need to play with that excitement.’
