Arsenal vs Tottenham: Mikel Arteta praises Viktor Gyokeres' determination to join the Gunners ahead of north London derby with Spurs in Hong Kong
Viktor Gyokeres could make his Arsenal debut against Spurs in Thursday's north London derby in Hong Kong; the Swedish striker completed a £63.5m move from Sporting last week; Spurs boss Thomas Frank has described Arsenal as "one of the best teams in the world, unfortunately"
Thursday 31 July 2025 12:11, UK
Mikel Arteta says Viktor Gyokeres' determination to join Arsenal was one of the major reasons why he signed him - and the striker taking Thierry Henry's iconic shirt number shows he is "attached" to the club.
Gyokeres completed a £63.5m move from Sporting CP last week, with the Swedish striker taking Arsenal legend Henry's iconic No 14, despite other squad numbers being available.
The 27-year-old took part in his first training sessions with the Arsenal team out on their pre-season tour of Asia and Arteta has been impressed all summer with the forward's mentality.
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"I use the word conviction and that's the first thing that I noticed when I spoke to him," said Arteta in a press conference in Hong Kong.
"Someone very determined, someone that was already really attached to the club [with] the way he was talking about the club, the history and in this case Thierry [Henry's number] and what the shirt represented.
"He straight away felt it, and when you feel it - go for it."
Gyokeres could have an explosive debut for Arsenal on Thursday in the first north London derby to take place outside of the UK.
Asked if Arsenal's new front man has a chance of featuring against Spurs in Hong Kong, Arteta replied: "He's only done today's session and yesterday very little.
"We're going to assess [on Wednesday night] how he is and if the medical staff are happy as well with his condition to participate in tomorrow's match, then it's a possibility. We're going to discuss that."
Odegaard: You can already see Gyokeres' quality
Speaking in the same press conference, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard says Gyokeres is already showing his quality in training, with the Norwegian describing his fellow Scandinavian team-mate as a "very complete player".
"I think you've all seen what he's done in his career so far," said Odegaard. "Especially the last season at Sporting, the numbers speak for themselves.
"He's a very complete player. He's physical, strong, fast, good finisher, and intelligent as well.
"I think he's a very complete striker and you can also see the hunger, the energy he brings. I'm really excited to have him with the team.
"He's only trained a few times, but you can already see the quality, the energy, and the willingness. I'm excited to have a pitch with him."
Frank: Arsenal one of the best teams in the world | Arteta: Great to hear!
In the Spurs camp, new head coach Thomas Frank surprised a few by describing rivals Arsenal as "one of the best teams in the world, unfortunately".
The Dane, who is getting his first derby experience out in Hong Kong, said: "I think it's a great challenge besides being our biggest rivals and the first North London Derby outside the UK.
"It's also right now one of the best teams, I must say unfortunately, in the world. We also need to be honest.
"So in that way, it's a big test but it's more than a test against Arsenal. It's not only a friendly, of course, and we'll do everything we can to win."
Responding to those comments from the former Brentford head coach, Arteta replied: "Well, that's great to hear that especially from someone like Frank that I respect immensely.
"And with him and Spurs, I think tomorrow we're going to start to see the direction that he's going to take with the team, implementing his vision, his philosophy.
"And of course we need to be focused on what we want to do, what we want to achieve, and I'm sure it's going to be a great game."
Sky Sports to show 215 live Premier League games from next season
From next season, Sky Sports' Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.
