Viktor Gyokeres is struggling because his Arsenal teammates don’t trust him – he’s not passed to for a reason

Viktor Gyokeres’ spell as Arsenal’s starting striker will be over once Kai Havertz returns – his teammates don’t trust him.

That’s the view of ex-Watford skipper Troy Deeney, who believes the 27-year-old will never hit the heights expected of him at the Emirates.

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Gyokeres arrived in north London earlier in the summer from Sporting Lisbon in a deal rising to £63.7million.

Establishing himself as one of the world’s most ruthless goalscorers during his spell in Portugal, he found the back of the net on 97 occasions from 102 outings for Sporting.

And while he scored twice in Arsenal‘s 5-1 romp over Leeds, he was easily marked out of the game in the away ties at Manchester United and Liverpool.

With Havertz still recovering from knee surgery, Gyokeres will once again start up top in Saturday’s lunchtime clash against Nottingham Forest – live on talkSPORT.

Arsenal faced criticism after their 1-0 defeat at Anfield for a lack of creativity in the final third, with Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel branding their style of play as ‘ugly’.

Deeney believes facing Forest will play into Arsenal’s hands, where new manager Ange Postecoglou may set up with his favoured high-line in his first game in charge.

What has Troy Deeney said about Viktor Gyokeres?

Speaking to talkSPORT.com, Deeney was asked whether that will suit Gyokeres, with the Swedish striker always looking to get in behind.

He was also pressed if Arsenal players need to find the striker’s runs more, with players often overlooking a through ball for a risk-free pass instead – as shown in their two matches away from home this term.

To which Deeney said: “Why are you trying to start me off on this? You’ve just said Arsenal players don’t pass him the ball. Why do you think that is?

“Do you think the midfielders and the players at Arsenal are not good enough to see the runs?”

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When queried as to whether Arsenal players lack bravery in trying a risky pass, Deeney replied: “Or they don’t trust him.”

Deeney was then told of how Gyokeres opened his Arsenal account against Leeds in fine fashion after racing onto a lofted ball from Riccardo Calafiori.

But the former Birmingham centre-forward wasn’t having it, as he stated Gyokeres is at fault for not being found on a more frequent basis, before suggesting the Arsenal squad have no issues when Havertz is up top.

He said: “What’s happened is, this is the thing that fans get caught up in, they’ll go, ‘Oh he showed you against Leeds, play a ball over the top and he scores’.

“With great respect, he was against Leeds. Played five or six balls over the top and four or five opportunities to put him in against Man United, he made the wrong runs and no-one says anything.

“So I think there’s an element of the players going, ‘We’re not sure’, because I tell you what, when Kai Havertz is fit and plays, they give him the ball.”

Gyokeres represents a totally different profile to Havertz, with the ex-Coventry star solely driven on scoring goals and poaching opportunities, whereas Havertz is an expert in link-up play.

Arsenal’s players do need to adapt to having a new type of striker in the team, but Deeney believes the frontman himself needs to take more ownership.

Commenting on him potentially being the type of player Arsenal need leading the line, Deeney remarked: “Yeah, and it’s on him to make the runs and be more deliberate.

“Look, I think the kid is all right. He’s all right. I just don’t think he’s that guy.”

Before adding: “My point is, we shouldn’t be having these conversations around the striker.

“If it’s the one you guys have got because you’ve identified early, ‘He’s the one for us’, we shouldn’t be having these debates whether he can do it.

“He should be coming in now to get Arsenal over the line. Yet we’re what, two, three weeks in? Obviously it’s very early, but he didn’t score for Sweden in the two [World Cup qualifying] games he was there.

“So he scored in one game for Arsenal, so he obviously got two [goals]. There’s not been a game where you’ve gone, ‘That’s the player’.”

Going back to whether Arsenal’s players need to find him earlier, Deeney then said: “Do you think [Bukayo] Saka has the ability to find him earlier? Do you think [Martin] Odegaard has the ability to do it?

“[Eberechi] Eze? [Noni] Madueke? So you think with those four players, they’ve got that. Do you think Declan Rice is [capable] as well?

“So why in the game so far, have we only seen it against Leeds?”

Deeney then insisted that while Gyokeres may thrive against lower-level teams in the division, he will never be their main man.

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The talkSPORT pundit declared: “I think personally he needs to demand the ball more, I think he needs to ask for it more, I think he needs to be more deliberate in his runs.

“And also, let’s call it as it is, his hold up play has been terrible so far. It’s been terrible. So he needs to do more. He needs to bring more to the game.

“And look, I think there’ll be games he scores two and threes, maybe even fours, against the lesser teams.

“But I just don’t know in the games against Liverpool, does he turn up? No. In the games against [Manchester] City and Chelsea, they’re games where you need someone to get you over the line.

“I still think it’s going to be Saka that gets you over the line.”

And for Deeney, he believes it will once again be Havertz elected to lead the line once the German returns to action.

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The former striker stated: “I said it before, I think Havertz plays more games than Gyokeres. I really do. I just think Arteta knows him, loves him. It’s worked up to a point.

“I think if you’re Arteta, even though you’ve missed out [on winning the title], I think there’s a way that you could justify, ‘Oh if we had just beat whichever team’, do you get what I mean?

“You could justify that, ‘We weren’t that far behind’. So I just think he’s always going to go back to that.”

With Havertz facing plenty more weeks on the sidelines, Gyokeres will continue to be given a chance to prove his doubters wrong.

And the only way to silence his critics will be doing what he’s best at – scoring goals.