Arsenal ‘should have signed’ £60m Chelsea star instead of Viktor Gyokeres | Football

Joleon Lescott has named two Premier League strikers Arsenal ‘should have signed’ instead of Viktor Gyokeres.

Gyokeres has endured an underwhelming first season at the Emirates Stadium following his £64m summer move from Sporting.

The 27-year-old scored almost a goal a game in Portugal but has been nowhere near as prolific in the Premier League, netting 11 in 29 games.

Gyokeres has improved since the turn of the New Year but Arsenal fans still expected more from a player who was seen as the final piece of the jigsaw in Mikel Arteta’s squad.

Sweden international Gyokeres has even dropped out of the team in some games and Lescott believes this is all the evidence needed to show his signing was a mistake.

Arsenal did need a new No.9 last summer but Lescott believes they should have signed Joao Pedro or Hugo Ekitike instead of Gyokeres.

Pedro has scored 19 goals in all competitions since his £60m move to Chelsea last summer, while Ekitike has 17 goals since joining Liverpool for a little under £80m.

‘I thought Viktor Gyokeres was brought in to start for Arsenal,’ former England, Manchester City, Wolves and Everton defender Lescott told Sky Bet.

‘You’re not spending that amount of money, having identified that position, for him not to play. Surely, he’s been brought in to play in all the big games.

‘They brought in Gyokeres because they thought he was the best of the available strikers.

‘It’s easy to say now that Arsenal should have gone for Hugo Ekitike. Joao Pedro is another striker I don’t know why Arsenal didn’t buy.’

Gyokeres is not the only Arsenal summer signing to have struggled at times, with Eberechi Eze also going through a difficult spell earlier in the season – although his form has picked up in recent weeks.

Asked about Eze’s start at Arsenal, Lescott added: ‘He’s found his position at Arsenal, but he hasn’t found the rhythm yet.