Arsenal Eye Marquee Striker as Gyokeres Fails to Impress Owen

Michael Owen has cast doubt on Viktor Gyokeres' suitability as Arsenal's long-term number nine, insisting the Gunners would spare no effort in landing a world-class alternative should one materialise on the market.

The Swedish striker arrived at the Emirates for £55m last summer and has notched 21 goals across 54 appearances in all competitions. Yet despite his productive campaign, Owen remains unconvinced the 27-year-old represents the calibre of centre-forward Mikel Arteta's side truly need.

"Arsenal would love to find another centre-forward – they're not happy with Gyokeres really," Owen told Premier League Productions. "If someone comes available that's top, if a Thierry Henry becomes available again, they'd move heaven and earth to get somebody like that in."

Wayne Rooney had previously championed Gyokeres as his Premier League signing of the season, crediting the Swede with providing Arsenal "something a bit different" in their title-winning campaign. Owen, however, disagreed with that assessment, suggesting the Gunners' current approach, whilst effective, needn't become permanent.

"They've won it playing like this at the moment, that's not to say they're going to be like this forever," Owen explained. "That might change the dynamic of things as well. Okay, they're not the greatest of watches, granted, I'd say that, but that's not to say they'll be like that forever. They might evolve, they might get better."

The former England striker did urge caution over ambitious summer spending, pointing to Liverpool's cautionary tale of heavy investment potentially destabilising a winning formula. Nevertheless, Owen backed Arsenal to retain their crown, particularly given the apparent vulnerability of their rivals.

"This is a very, very strong, solid, efficient team that you can see they're going to do it again," he said. "When you look at the opposition, Liverpool are in turmoil, Chelsea are in turmoil, they're playing really poorly, Manchester United are upwardly mobile at the moment but they've still got a lot of surgeries, a couple of big players going, European football to contend with, it might be a year too early."

With Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United all struggling to mount credible title challenges, Owen sees a genuine opportunity for Arsenal to cement their status as the division's dominant force, provided they maintain their consistency.