Viktor Gyokeres scored Sweden's winner against Romania before admitting he must improve if he is to regain a regular Arsenal starting place.
Viktor Gyokeres says he needs to improve if he wants to regain his regular place in Arsenal's starting XI after returning to the goals for Sweden.
The striker started alongside Alexander Isak in Friday night's Nations League opener against Romania and struck shortly before half-time, reacting quickest after Lucas Bergvall's effort from distance was saved to give Sweden the lead. Gyokeres' goal was ultimately the deciding factor in the 2-1 win. It was his first competitive goal of the new season for either club or country.
Gyokeres played 76 minutes before Benjamin Nygren replaced him, having been given a start by Graham Potter after a rather different opening few weeks at Arsenal. Kai Havertz has regularly been preferred through the middle by Mikel Arteta and Gyokeres was again among the substitutes for the recent 3-0 defeat at Brighton, entering the game with 20 minutes remaining.
It is quite a change from his first season in North London. Gyokeres scored 14 Premier League goals in 36 appearances after arriving from Sporting, finishing as Arsenal's leading goalscorer in the league, as the Gunners went on to win their first Premier League title for 22 years.
He ended the campaign with 15 goal involvements in the competition and was shortlisted for the Premier League's Transfer of the Season award. The start of this season has been difficult for the Sweden international, playing just over 200 minutes of football for Arsenal, where he is yet to register a goal or assist in any competition.
The 28-year-old was open about wanting more football after speaking to Swedish media following the Romania win.
"You always want to be on the pitch as a footballer," Gyokeres said, per TV4.
He acknowledged that his minutes for Arsenal have been limited so far and said the games he has played have felt okay, although he naturally prefers to be involved as much as possible. Asked directly about what Arteta had told him and what would be required to take back a regular starting place, Gyokeres replied:
"Obviously, I need to do better, and yes, I want to do that, so there are no problems."
He had also said he believed the playing time would come if he kept his focus.
His goal for Sweden has come at a useful time for Gyokeres. He had gone without scoring during Arsenal's opening run of the season, while Havertz's form has made the competition for the centre-forward position very different to much of last term.
Havertz has since suffered a muscular injury while away with Germany, having been forced off after 30 minutes of their 1-1 draw against the Netherlands on Thursday. Germany boss Jürgen Klopp said afterwards that Havertz had undergone an MRI and was likely to miss Sunday's game, although no timescale has yet been given for his return.
That could give Gyokeres another opportunity to push for a starting place when he returns to Arsenal. He will at least do so with his first goal of the season behind him.
There is still plenty of international football to come first. Sweden have another three fixtures before Gyokeres returns to North London, giving him further chances to build on his first goal of the season before Arsenal's campaign resumes.
