William Gallas tells Mikel Arteta to replace two Arsenal stars to help Viktor Gyokeres

Ex-Arsenal defender William Gallas (Picture: Getty)

William Gallas has advised Mikel Arteta to replace two Arsenal players this summer and believes new additions could help get the best out of Viktor Gyokeres.

Gyokeres has endured a mixed first season at the Emirates Stadium following last summer’s £64m move from Sporting, scoring 17 goals but receiving criticism for his general play.

A number of pundits have questioned if Gyokeres is good enough to lead the line for title-chasing Arsenal, with Jamie Carragher recently claiming Arsenal needed to sign an upgrade in the summer.

Gallas believes Gyokeres can be a success at his former club but only if Arsenal ‘change their style’ and start providing him with better and more regular service.

Arteta has Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke at his disposal on the right wing but Gallas fears both Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard on the left are stagnating.

Gallas is surprised by Martinelli’s subdued season – the Brazilian has scored just once in the Premier League – and has described Trossard as a ‘squad player’.

‘Who would I sign for Arsenal? To be honest, I think they’ve got a good squad and they can do the same performance for next season,’ Gallas told BoyleSports.

Arsenal’s £64m summer signing Viktor Gyokeres (Picture: Getty)

‘Even up front they’ve got the wingers but the only thing is maybe they still need one world class striker or to change the style of the team.

‘When Arsenal play on the counter-attack, I think sometimes the midfielders have to look for Viktor Gyokeres to give him the ball at the first opportunity.

‘Gyokeres always asks for the ball in front, in the space, but he doesn’t get the ball, because the midfielder wants to keep the ball. That is the style of Arsenal. 

Gunners winger Leandro Trossard (Picture: Getty)

‘Gyokeres has scored goals but he hasn’t scored enough goals so he has to reach a minimum 20 goals next season and it will be difficult for him if Arsenal are going to play the same way because he doesn’t really dominate the league physically like he did in Portugal. 

‘Maybe you need a left winger because I don’t know what has happened to Gabriel Martinelli, he’s just not what he was, and Leandro Trossard is a good squad player but you need something else.

‘Would I prefer Khvicha Kvaratskhelia or Bradley Barcola for Arsenal? Barcola.

‘When you’ve got a striker like Gyokeres, you need players to give him the ball to score the goals, and that’s why maybe some of Arsenal’s style has to change, or Arsenal need to change their striker.’

Gyokeres failed to boost his goals tally in Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City before the international break.

The Sweden international was on target in their FA Cup quarter-final against Southampton on Saturday but could not prevent Arsenal from slipping to a shock 2-1 defeat.

Arsenal face Gyokeres’ former club Sporting in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday night.

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