Rio Ferdinand makes Viktor Gyokeres Arsenal prediction as warning sent to Alexander Isak

Rio Ferdinand has suggested that Arsenal's new striker Viktor Gyokeres just needs time to adjust, following a debut in which he failed to take a shot. Despite the Gunners securing a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in their season opener, the Swedish forward didn't quite hit his stride.

Mikel Arteta has been on the hunt for a prolific goalscorer to bolster his attacking line as the north London club strives to shake off their reputation as perpetual second-place finishers. Gyokeres was brought in for a hefty £63.5million after an impressive run of 54 goals in 52 matches for Sporting CP last season.

However, his Premier League initiation at Old Trafford wasn't exactly smooth sailing, with Arsenal struggling to find their form and connect with the Swedish international. Riccardo Calafiori's goal made the difference, ensuring the Gunners started their campaign with a win against Ruben Amorim's team.

Gyokeres was subbed off for Kai Havertz after 60 minutes on Sunday. Ferdinand believes it's perfectly reasonable that the former Coventry City marksman hasn't hit the ground running yet.

The former Manchester United defender pointed out Gyokeres' lack of pre-season due to going on strike at his previous club, potentially serving as a cautionary tale for Newcastle's Alexander Isak, who is reportedly seeking a move, reports the Mirror. Ferdinand said: "I've seen some of the comments, people saying Gyokeres doesn't look the part – early in the season, give him five or six games minimum, just to get up to speed.

"Give him time to get up to speed fitness-wise, he's got to get fit! He probably hasn't trained with a team since he got to Arsenal because he demanded to leave – bit like Isak now, he won't be training with the team, he'll be on his own [at Newcastle]. The depth now, Havertz coming on, Arsenal have a real opportunity now."

Arsenal manager Arteta remained relatively unfazed by his new signing's performance given how early it was in his Emirates Stadium tenure. "Well, he did a lot of things very good," he commented following the victory.

"You can tell, especially in our high-pressing rhythm that we demand that, especially in the first hour. Again, he took too much time. It's something that we have to work on him, especially there.

"And then, yeah, finalising situation, he didn't have that many chances to do that because, as I said, on the previous action, before we had to play that last ball that the line was standing still with 40 metres behind, we then managed to put the ball through to exploit his quality. But overall, I mean, coming away to Manchester United, winning your first game with Arsenal, it's a good start."

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