Thierry Henry finally breaks silence on Viktor Gyokeres' decision to take his Arsenal squad number

Thierry Henry has finally delivered his long-awaited verdict on Arsenal summer signing Viktor Gyokeres after the Swede joined from Sporting CP last month.

Gyokeres was heavily linked with a move to the Emirates earlier in the year, and it looked as though it was a straight shot between the Sweden international and Benjamin Sesko as to who the club would target.

Ultimately, Arsenal opted for Gyokeres, who scored 39 league goals and provided seven assists in Liga Portugal last season as Sporting CP edged rivals Benfica to the title on the final day of the campaign.

The north London side had been crying out for a striker having struggled in their push to capitalise upon Manchester City’s downturn, which ultimately resulted in Liverpool finishing top of the pile last season.

Gyokeres has taken Arsenal's famous 14 shirt

In a huge show of confidence, the 27-year-old also opted to take Henry’s famous number 14 shirt, which further heightens expectations as Arsenal look to end their lengthy wait for the Premier League title.

And Henry, who twice played for Arsenal during his glittering career and is widely regarded as the greatest player to feature in the Premier League, has, to the delight of supporters, spoken highly of Gyokeres.

Gyokeres is Arsenal's new No.14 / Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images

Speaking on his first Betway Insider Blog, Henry said of the big money signing: “It’s always unfair because when I talk about a striker, it brings an unnecessary pressure, sometimes, because whenever I say something it goes above and beyond.

“What I would say about Gyokeres is that you saw his goal against Athletic Club the other day. That instinct and understanding to anticipate the cross, a great header with soft touch to guide it to the other side of the goal – he is a proper No. 9. That’s the goal of a 9.

“He is not a [Roberto] Firmino type of 9 that’s going to drop into midfield. He wants to be in the box, in between the posts, and he said it himself – please put the ball in the box and serve me.

“You have a guy that’s a killer in the box – numbers don’t lie – and you have a team that create a lot of chances, so it should be the perfect match, but you have to also understand that sometimes it doesn’t click straight away.“

Henry pleads for Gyokeres patience

The former France forward went on to add: “What you want is people to be patient with him, and what is annoying right now is that people are not that patient anymore. They want the guy to perform straight away, score goals straight away and make us win straight away, which doesn’t happen often.

“He already was in England, let’s not forget that. He was at Coventry, he couldn’t do it at Brighton, so you can see a guy who already knows what struggling is and comes back from that. He’s more confident, and you can see from his body the way he’s looked after himself, the way he’s changed.

“I love when people show me what they can do, and then I can talk. Right now, people love to talk before the performance.

Thierry Henry wore 14 in his first Arsenal spell and 12 in his second. (Image: Getty)

“I’m an Arsenal fan, I obviously hope he’s going to do well, bang goals for us, and guide us to a title, but he’s not going to do that alone. We have seen that goals don’t always assure you a title. We’ve seen guys with mad numbers, but they didn’t win anything. The team around them has to be good.

“From what I’ve seen from him and how he finishes, hopefully it’s going to be a great match and we can finally go back to lift that trophy. But as I’ve said, a lot of teams want to lift that.”

Arsenal have been incredibly active in the summer transfer market, signing Kepa, Cristhian Mosquera, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke and Gyokeres to aid their title pursuit.

The Gunners get their campaign underway at Manchester United on Sunday, which will pit Gyokeres against former Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim.