Viktor Gyokeres finally breaks silence after Arsenal debut and Roy Keane criticism

Viktor Gyokeres has opened up after making his Arsenal debut during Sunday's 1-0 win at Manchester United.

The new Gunners striker arrived in north London from Portuguese champions Sporting this summer, with Mikel Arteta seeking a reliable goalscoring No.9. Gyokeres scored an impressive 97 goals in 102 appearances for Sporting and was also of interest at United, who are managed by his former head coach Ruben Amorim.

The 27-year-old started Sunday's clash at Old Trafford but was unable to make much of an impact before being substituted in the second half. The Swede has now had his say on what was an overall positive afternoon for his new team.

"Proud moment to make my Premier League debut for this special club and to start the season with a win," he said in a post on Instagram on Monday. The upload contained images from the match, with a red love heart emoji included in the caption.

Former United midfielder and Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane was critical of Gyokeres after his first outing for Arteta's side. "He didn't look sharp. He had moments where he showed his physicality, but he wasn't clinical enough in the final third," he said.

Ex-Chelsea and Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge echoed Keane's comments, adding: "The Premier League is a different beast. He's coming from a league where he had more time and space, and today, he was rushed into decisions."

Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards, however, backed Gyokeres to do well in the Premier League. "He's got all the tools to succeed here, but it's clear he needs time to adjust," he said..

"Arsenal's system will suit him eventually, but today wasn't his day."

Arteta admitted after the victory in Manchester that his team failed to get the best out of Gyokeres but was hopeful for the future. "Well he did a lot of things very good," he said.

"You can tell especially in our high press and rhythm that we demand, that especially in the first half we were giving a bit too much time. It is something that we have to work on him, especially there.

"Then in the final action situation, he did not have that many chances to do that, because in the previous action, we had to play that last ball and the line was standing still with 40 metres to play.

"We did not manage to put the ball through to exploit his quality. But overall, coming away to Man United, winning your first game with Arsenal, is a good start."

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