Arteta hints at full Gyokeres debut for pre-season North London derby

Mikel Arteta has revealed that Arsenal’s new striker Viktor Gyokeres will be assessed in training before a decision is made on whether he features in their upcoming clash with Tottenham.

The Swedish international finalised his £63.5m move from Sporting CP at the weekend and was in attendance as the Gunners edged Newcastle 3-2 in Singapore.

Although Arteta is eager to integrate the 27-year-old as soon as possible, he admits Gyokeres has not been involved in any training since the conclusion of Sporting’s title-winning campaign.

“Well, I think he hasn’t had a single training session with the team since the last game with Sporting when they became champions,” Arteta said.

“So we will assess him tomorrow, he’s done all the medicals, everything is looking good, but to get him up to speed with the right levels of fitness, I think 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.”

Gyokeres had faced disciplinary measures in Portugal after skipping Sporting’s pre-season training to help push through his move to North London. The prolific forward scored 54 goals in 52 matches last season.

Gyokeres has signed a five-year deal and is Arsenal’s sixth major addition this summer, following the arrivals of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke and Cristhian Mosquera.

While Kepa, Zubimendi and Norgaard have already made their debuts on the club’s pre-season tour, Madueke will meet up with the squad later this summer.

Gyokeres and Mosquera travelled with the team to Asia but did not feature in the Newcastle fixture.

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