Wayne Rooney has leapt to the defence of Viktor Gyokeres after the Arsenal striker came under heavy scrutiny following his Premier League debut.
The £64m summer signing struggled to make an impact against Manchester United at Old Trafford and was replaced in the second half by Kai Havertz.
That sparked a sharp exchange between Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports, with the latter claiming Mikel Arteta will turn back to Havertz in the biggest games.
Neville countered that “he can’t leave Gyokeres out of big games” but Carragher doubled down with a blunt “he can.” It reflected a broader pundit reaction that focused on Gyokeres’ lack of threat rather than the context of Arsenal’s 1-0 victory.
Rooney, speaking on his BBC podcast, offered a different perspective. “To be fair to him he didn’t have much support at times,” he said. “He was a bit isolated, he did show his strength, there was one time he ran into the channel and pushed [Matthijs] De Ligt off the ball.
“You don’t become a bad player after one game. I actually played against him a couple of years ago when he was at Coventry and back then you could tell he was a good player.
“The one thing I would say is this league is completely different to where he’s been and there’s a lot more pressure. Arsenal have been in need of a striker and he’s the one they’ve put the trust in and spent the money on so there is a lot of pressure on him.
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“Now, the question I would have is can he handle that pressure? We’ve seen at Man United some players just can’t do it, just can’t handle the pressure of playing for a big club. I guess we’re going to find out over the next few months.”
Gyokeres’ muted start contrasted sharply with his extraordinary output in Portugal, where he scored 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting and fired them to back-to-back league titles. That record persuaded Arsenal to invest heavily, with Arteta describing him as the missing piece in his frontline after three straight second-place finishes.
Rooney stressed that one quiet evening at Old Trafford does not change that pedigree. Instead, he underlined the importance of adapting quickly to the Premier League spotlight and the heightened expectation that comes with leading the line for a title contender.
The former Manchester United captain also gave his view on Arsenal’s prospects this season. “I think they can [win the league],” he added.
“It will be tough but they can. You can’t judge them on that performance because I know what it’s like at the start of the season, it can be tough for players. Arsenal are certainly one of the three or four teams that can win it, that’s for sure.”
Arsenal will look for Gyokeres to make his mark sooner rather than later, starting with Saturday’s clash against newly-promoted Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium.
