Keane and Wright Split on Gyokeres Gamble as Arsenal Striker Searches for Form

The great Gyokeres debate has reached the Overlap podcast, and it's thrown up one of those rare moments where Roy Keane emerges as the optimist while Ian Wright—Mr Arsenal himself—finds himself wrestling with doubt.

Arsenal's £64m summer acquisition has managed eight Premier League goals across 23 outings, a tally that hardly screams clinical finisher. Sitting joint ninth in the scoring charts, the Swedish striker remains the elephant in the room for those questioning whether the Gunners have adequately addressed their traditional weakness in front of goal.

When pressed on whether Gyokeres represents a hit, miss, or perhaps something in between, Wright opted for the fence. "Fingers crossed for him, it's a maybe right now," he explained. "If we're judging him just on goals… you can probably say yeah, but you judge him on everything he's bringing to the team. He's just somebody who I think, as long as we can finish it off and win the league, next year he will come stronger. So I'm a maybe."

Neville pushed for clarity, and Wright conceded his unhappiness with what the player has delivered so far.

Enter Keane, who bucked expectations entirely. Rather than join the chorus of sceptics, the Manchester United legend backed the Swede to justify his fee. "I'm going to say hit, he's doing what he's supposed to do at Arsenal," Keane declared. "I think by the end of the season he will be a hit."

Recent form has handed Gyokeres a lifeline. A two-goal burst in just 30 minutes off the bench against Sunderland has convinced manager Mikel Arteta that something has clicked into place.

"His work ethic remains the same," Arteta reflected. "I think probably the energy, the confidence, when you start to score and assist, you probably believe that it's going to happen more often and the probability of that happening then increases. Physically as well, after the injury… when he got himself again fresh and available, and training and a sequence of good matches there, I think everything lifted and now it's clicking."

Whether Keane's prediction holds water or Wright's caution proves justified will likely define Arsenal's season.