"Only thing I need is some assists” - Viktor Gyokeres replies to welcome letter from Arsenal star

Arsenal's new signing, Viktor Gyokeres, thrilled many Gunners' fans on social media while cheekily responding to a welcome letter by his new captain, Martin Odegaard. In the letter, Odegaard welcomed Gyokeres to the club and asked the striker to let him know in case he needed help with anything.

In reply, Gyokeres, with his tongue firmly in cheek, said that all he needed from Odegaard were assists. This was seen in a video shared by SportBible on Instagram. In the video, the Sweden international seemed pleased at the welcome accorded by Odegaard, who has been at Arsenal since 2021.

"Some assists, please! That would be nice. Very nice. Only thing I need is some assists," said Gyokeres, in reply to Martin Odegaard's letter.

You can see the video here:

Gyokeres recently arrived from Sporting CP for €63 million. He was in the limelight for his extraordinary performances in the 2024-25 season, in which he scored 54 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions. In 2023-24, his first season after joining the club, he netted 43 times in 50 occasions across competitions.

Gyokeres, interestingly, plied his trade for Coventry City before moving to Sporting in the 2023 summer transfer window. He is not unfamiliar with English football, as he is the product of the Brighton and Hove Albion academy. He has also played for Swansea City in the past.

Gyokeres is Arsenal's biggest signing in this summer window, and someone who can possibly help them end their Premier League drought.

"It's been a long journey to get him over here" - Mikel Arteta on Viktor Gyokeres' arrival at Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who had a vital role in getting Gyokeres to sign for the club, recently revealed how long a journey it had been to get the Swede to come to London. However, the Spaniard mentioned that Gyokeres had always been clear on where he wanted to sign this summer.

Although Manchester United were reportedly in the race to sign Gyokeres, the player chose Arsenal. Gyokeres has previously worked with current Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim at Sporting, and it was reported that the latter was keen on reuniting with his former protege at Old Trafford this season. However, the move did not transpire, and Gyokeres arrived at the Emirates instead.

"We are super happy to have Viktor with us. It's been a long journey to get him over here. He's been incredible. He was very clear from the beginning where he wanted to play and that passion I felt from him from day one when we first spoke. You can see the boys [are] very excited with his arrival," Arteta was quoted as saying by the BBC. "I don't think he has had a single training session with the team since the last game with Sporting when they became champions. So we will assess him. He's done all the medicals and everything is looking good, but getting him up to speed with the right levels of fitness is very important. So we're not going to stop him. We want him with us as quick as possible, but we'll have to assess and the medical team will do that," he added.

Arsenal, who have finished second in the Premier League for the last three seasons in a row, know that a lot is at stake this campaign. They will also want to aim for the UEFA Champions League title. The Gunners have already made six major signings to that end: Martin Zubimendi, Noni Madueke, Christhian Mosquera, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Christian Norgaard and Gyokeres.

Gyokeres can prove to be Arsenal's knight in shining armour in the upcoming season, especially since they were in dire need of a striker for a long time. With Gabriel Jesus ruled out with an ACL injury, and Kai Havertz missing a major chunk due to a hamstring issue, the bulk of the weight of scoring goals and creating chances fell on star winger Bukayo Saka last season. However, with Gyokeres' arrival, things are bound to change, and for the better.

Edited by Sankalp Srivastava