Arsenal should’ve signed Ollie Watkins over Viktor Gyokeres

Arsenal must start regretting their move to sign Victor Gyukiris this summer after his apparent struggles adapting to the Premier League.

Gyukiris was hugely prolific at former club Sporting Lisbon, finding the back of the net an astonishing 97 times in 102 appearances over two seasons.

This prompted Arsenal to pay £64m to sign the Sweden international from Sporting last summer (fee via BBC Sport), with the deal looking interesting to give Mikel Arteta a more natural goalscorer than other strikers such as Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.

Arsenal will certainly now be wondering whether this was the right decision, as Gyokeris has not impressed since arriving in a much more competitive league.

Victor Gyukiris for Arsenal this season against Sporting last season

Gyukiris needs to improve quickly, because even if he is not likely to score as many goals for Arsenal as he did at Sporting, his numbers so far are far below what the club expected.

See below for some key stats comparing the 27-year-old’s form for Arsenal this season compared to the way he played at Sporting last season…

Spending big on someone who had never played in the Premier League may have been a gamble, so should Arsenal have opted to go all out for someone who has already shown he can do it at this level?

Because just a few months ago, that’s pretty much what happened when they tried to sign Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa.

The England international scored 82 goals in 205 Premier League matches with Villa, and BBC Sport reported last January that the Gunners had tried to sign him for £60 million.

That’s not a huge difference in terms of fees, but it’s still definitely a little lower, and it’s a much safer option to come in and give the AFC the threat they need.

Could Ollie Watkins have done something for Arsenal?

Watkins has been a key player in Villa’s impressive squad, although it is worth noting that his form has dipped slightly this season.

The 30-year-old has scored seven goals in 28 appearances in all competitions so far this season, so it doesn’t look like he will match the 17 he scored last year, and certainly not the 27 he got the year before.

However, when you look at other key metrics, such as in the chart below, you can also see that Watkins offers a better all-around play than Gyokeres…

There are no guarantees in football, with Gyokeris, along with other big-name signings such as Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, proving a disappointment this season, but Watkins looks like he could have been an option worth considering for Arsenal.

The Villa striker may only offer a similar kind of goal threat, but he is a handful behind defenders with the number of touches he takes and the chances he creates for his teammates.

Arsenal eventually decided the deal wasn’t worth it and turned to Geukeris instead, but how long will they live to regret it?