THE £127M FLOP: WHY EBERECHI EZE AND VIKTOR GYOKERES ARE FAILING TO JUSTIFY THEIR MASSIVE FEES
Arsenal title race crisis: Discover why the £127M duo Eze and Gyokeres are failing to deliver after the 2-2 draw against Wolves.
Arsenal’s push for the Premier League title hit another snag last night. They could only manage a 2-2 draw against Wolves, who are stuck at the bottom of the table. That result leaves Arsenal just five points ahead of Manchester City. City still has a game in hand too, which makes things even more tense at the top.
There’s still the trip to the Etihad coming up, and let’s be real, that match could decide everything. Arsenal fans are in for a stressful finish, no doubt about it.
One player who just hasn’t lived up to the hype is Viktor Gyokeres. Since joining Sporting CP for around £60 million last summer, he’s barely made a dent. The numbers say it all: 13 goals in 35 appearances. For a guy who scored 54 goals in all competitions the year before, that’s a huge letdown. He hasn’t found the net in his last three games, and it’s not just about goals; his overall game looks off.
Gyokeres’s passing has been shaky, with just 61% of his passes finding a teammate. That’s among the worst in the league for forwards. And when he tries to take players on, it’s not much better; he’s only completed 18% of his dribbles, which puts him near the bottom again.
Honestly, it’s starting to feel like déjà vu for Arsenal. Remember Nicolas Pepe? The club spent £72 million on him in 2019. He arrived with massive expectations and ended up leaving on a free in 2023 after never really delivering. Gyokeres is starting to look like another expensive gamble that just hasn’t paid off.
And then there’s Eberechi Eze. Arsenal splashed out £67 million for him, hoping he’d be the creative spark in midfield. He gave fans a moment to remember with a hat-trick in the North London Derby, but aside from that, he’s faded badly. Since mid-December, Eze has started only two league games. Last week against Brentford, he didn’t even make it to halftime. Last night at Molineux, Arteta didn’t even trust him to start, instead moving Saka into the number ten role. Eze came on for just 25 minutes, touched the ball 15 times, and only once in the opposition’s box. He didn’t create any chances either.
Between Eze and Gyokeres, Arsenal spent a huge £127.5 million last summer. Both have fallen way short of expectations. Eze, especially, looks like he’s on the verge of becoming another big-money flop at the Emirates. Fans expected a lot more. Right now, they’re just not getting it.
GABRIEL JESUS RANKS BUKAYO SAKA ALONGSIDE VINICIUS JUNIOR AND RODRYGO
Gabriel Jesus compares Bukayo Saka to Vinicius Junior as Arsenal sit nine points clear in the Premier League.
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Gabriel Jesus isn’t shy about putting Bukayo Saka right up there with the likes of Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, and Rodrygo. When Rio Ferdinand asked him where Saka ranks among the best wide players in football right now, the Brazilian striker didn’t hesitate.
“They’re all at the same level,” Jesus said. He knows Saka as well as anyone, having played alongside him for four years at Arsenal. “He’s at the same table. Sure, they each play their own way, and they’ve had their ups and downs, but all of them step up in big moments. Saka’s earned his place in that group. He still needs to win a few big trophies, but those will come.”
For Jesus, it’s not just Saka’s talent that stands out; it’s his attitude. Despite all the pressure and the spotlight at Arsenal, Saka’s kept his feet on the ground. “Honestly, I’m a huge fan of his personality. He’s strong but so humble. These days, you don’t find many players who rise through the academy, become huge for the club, and still stay the same,” Jesus said.
With Arsenal heading into the season’s final stretch, Jesus sounds more optimistic than ever. He sees how the team’s grown under Mikel Arteta, with players like Saka leading the way, and he truly believes this is the squad to finally win the Premier League again. “I’m really confident. We’re in a great spot, and we have such a strong squad,” he said. “I believe 100% we’re doing something special this season.”
Saka’s influence has been massive. His form has kept Arsenal on top of the Premier League table, holding a nine-point lead over Manchester City even though City have a game in hand. Jesus, who arrived from City in 2022 with four league titles under his belt, thinks this team’s ready. They’ve fallen short before, but he’s convinced they can finish the job this time.
HOW EBERECHI EZE’S MONTH-LONG INJURY BLOW RESHAPES ARSENAL’S TREBLE PURSUIT
Arsenal playmaker Eberechi Eze is out for six weeks with a calf injury, missing the Champions League and FA Cup.
Arsenal’s hopes for a historic treble took a real hit with the news about Eberechi Eze. He’s out for at least a month, maybe longer, after picking up a serious calf injury at a pivotal point in the season. Honestly, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Mikel Arteta now has to face some tough fixtures without one of his key creative forces.
The BBC reports Eze will miss four to six weeks after getting injured in the Champions League win against Bayer Leverkusen. He already sat out Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City and pulled out of international duty. Arteta is still waiting for a full assessment from the medical team, but either way, the timing stings. Arsenal is chasing silverware in the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup, and losing Eze now is just brutal. On the bright side, captain Martin Odegaard is nearing his return from a knee injury, which should take some pressure off in midfield.
Eze has been a huge part of Arsenal’s attack this season. Before his injury, he played in 43 matches – two for Crystal Palace before his late-August move and the rest for Arsenal. He’s racked up nine goals and six assists for the Gunners, cementing himself as a key figure up front. In the Premier League, he’s appeared 26 times and contributed six goals and two assists. His Champions League stats are solid, too: one goal and two assists in nine games.
With Eze out, England manager Thomas Tuchel called up Harvey Barnes from Newcastle United. Barnes is in red-hot form, with 14 goals across all competitions, and this move finally ends his nearly six-year absence from international play and shuts down any talk he might switch to Scotland.
Looking ahead, Arteta has a rough road without his star playmaker. Arsenal sits at the top with 70 points, nine clear of Manchester City (though City still have a game in hand). The team returns after the international break with an FA Cup quarter-final against Southampton on April 4. Three days later, they head to Sporting CP for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final. Then, there’s a massive Premier League clash with Pep Guardiola’s squad on April 19. It’s a brutal stretch; Arsenal’s depth is about to be tested like never before.
