Arsenal fans know the sensation well: hope swelling, nerves fraying, belief hanging by a precarious thread. After three consecutive silver medals in the Premier League, there was a single, agonizingly obvious question: where is the striker who finally tips Arsenal into the winners’ circle? Last season, injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz curtailed their hopes both domestically and in the Champions League, but now, the wait is over. Viktor Gyökeres ArrivesViktor Gyökeres has arrived in North London, and with his £64 million signature comes a torrent of expectation and a promise of something the Gunners have not possessed in years: an apex predator. The Swedish talisman bagged a whopping 97 goals in two ravenous seasons at Sporting CP, 54 in the latest campaign at a conversion rate of 28.1%, something that puts Arsenal’s recent strikers in the shade. He’s a towering presence – 6’2”, lightning off the mark, and a player whose capacity to finish under pressure has become as famed as his mask-wielding celebrations.Mikel Arteta’s 2025/26 season gets underway on August 17th with a crunch clash against rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford. But the raising of the curtain of the new Premier League campaign isn’t the only thing to look forward to in the coming weeks.The highly anticipated launch of LuckyRebel.la will also be rolled out within the opening weeks of the upcoming PL season, a website that is planning to revolutionise sports for fans and bring them closer to the pitch than ever. But when Gyökeres is featured on the site, will he be thriving or floundering like some of his predecessors? Let’s take a look at the last four marquee signings and see the kind of company that the former Coventry City man finds himself in.Kai HavertzTwo years ago, Kai Havertz’s signing set eyebrows arching. £65 million for a player whose Chelsea tenure was a riddle wrapped in frustration? But Mikel Arteta didn’t buy a traditional striker – he bought a shape-shifter, a footballing polymath.The German international was never meant to rival Haaland or Kane for the Golden Boot. His true aim: lubricate Arsenal’s attacking gears, grant the midfield a new axis of invention, and allow others to thrive in the half-spaces his movement carved out.By that measure, Havertz has been a subtle, almost spectral influence. He ghosts into pockets, links play in transition, and his off-ball intelligence unlocks more from teammates like Bukayo Saka and captain Martin Ødegaard. The Gunners’ forward phases have rhythm and unpredictability with him in the side, something the numbers only partially explain. But for all the tactical alchemy, one truth gnaws away: trophies have eluded Arsenal since his arrival.His own goal-scoring numerical returns are, at best, serviceable – not transformative. Is tactical enhancement enough when silver still gathers dust at the Emirates? He can be considered somewhat of a success, especially considering the amount of criticism when he first signed, but he still lacks the knockout blow of a champion.Gabriel JesusIf there’s a tragic arc to an elite footballer’s story, Gabriel Jesus’ Arsenal tenure embodies it. Arriving from Manchester City with a champion’s pedigree and the glint of a winner’s hunger, the Brazilian injected electricity into Mikel Arteta’s attack. In his debut half-season, Arsenal’s title ambitions exploded out of nowhere – intensity, link-up play, and leadership. For a moment, it looked like the centre-forward drought was over.But then came the dreaded spectre: injury. A knee blow in the thick of a title chase. Hamstrings, knocks – a catalogue of setbacks that turned a dynamic focal point into a spectator. The stats turn brutal: 44 league appearances across the past two campaigns, just seven goals. When it counted most, April, May, the cusp of destiny, Jesus was usually absent, and Arsenal’s improvisation up top was mercilessly exposed by ruthless rivals.Is football about quality when it’s available, or durability when it matters? For Arsenal, who have watched seasons unravel with their stars in the treatment room, Jesus’s legacy is stark: hope raised, answer unfulfilled.Pierre-Emerick AubameyangPierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Arsenal story unfurls like a classic three-act drama: meteoric rise, heroic prime, tumultuous fall. Signed for £56 million from Borussia Dortmund in 2018 with Europe’s big guns circling, Auba hit North London like a tremor. Golden Boot in 2018/19 with 22 goals, the club’s talismanic figure, and architect of the 2020 FA Cup triumph, thanks to two goals in the final against the much-fancied Chelsea.Match after match, when it counted – a London derby, a European knockout, a trophy on the line – Aubameyang was the man for the moment. His pace stretched defences, his penalty-box instincts were lethal, and for a time, Arsenal were relevant solely because he was there. Individual honours? Player of the Year and cult status secured.But Act Three bit hard. Falling out with Arteta, discipline breaches, two attempts to force him out of the club before his ultimate free transfer to Barcelona, with bridges smouldering behind him.Did that sour his legacy? Perhaps. Did it erase his impact? Absolutely not. Strip away the bitterness, and Aubameyang was the last striker to put Arsenal on his back.Alexandre LacazetteFor Arsenal fans in 2017, Alexandre Lacazette’s arrival heralded hope – a £46.5 million solution to chronic profligacy in front of goal. Billed as a fox in the box from Lyon, he brought a reputation and a hunger suited for Premier League warfare. For stretches, he delivered just that: bustling energy, selfless pressing, link-up play that brought teammates to life.But did he ever become the striker Arsenal needed? The answer reverberates in his numbers: never more than 14 goals in a league campaign, too often trailing the true elite when matches tipped from tense to decisive. For all the sweat and sacrifice – he wore the captain’s armband for a stint – Lacazette was not the man to drag Arsenal kicking and screaming to a title challenge. Ultimately, he can only go down in Gunners folklore as a failure.The post Viktor Gyökeres Finally Signs. Were Arsenal’s Last Four Striker Signings Successes or Failures? appeared first on Just Arsenal News.