Stefan Schwarz has urged Viktor Gyokeres to improve his fitness and shed weight, saying the striker needs to sharpen physically to reach his best level in the Premier League.
Stefan Schwarz has told Viktor Gyokeres he must improve his fitness and lose weight if he wants to reach his full level in the Premier League.
Speaking to the Hajper website, the former Arsenal and Sweden midfielder said the striker is still feeling the effects of missing pre-season and needs time on the pitch to settle properly.
“He hasn’t had a proper preseason, and he needs to play,” Schwarz said.
“You need those six weeks to interact with colleagues, to understand the movements. When the midfielder makes the pass, you only have to look into his eyes to know where he is going to put the ball. It’s a relationship that takes time, and football is decided in detail. Dennis Bergkamp was the best at it.”
Schwarz praised Gyokeres as “a strong, physical player and a good finisher with both feet”, but did not shy away from what he feels the forward must work on.
“Hopefully he starts creating and scoring goals, that he gets into a good phase to gain that momentum and lose weight, get a little lighter, because he’s a heavy player,” Schwarz said. “I think that would help him.”
He also pointed to the demands of the league. “Players in the Premier League are more powerful, faster,” he said, adding that “sometimes the dog that barks the loudest is not always the strongest.”
Gyokeres joined Arsenal from Sporting CP in the summer for around €75 million and has already scored six goals this season, four of them in the Premier League. Schwarz remains confident he will grow into the role Arsenal have given him. “He will learn and score a lot of goals, and that will benefit Arsenal.”
The striker was left out of the Sweden squad during the international break because of a hamstring injury but remains Arsenal’s top scorer in the 2025 to 26 campaign.
He is a doubt for Arsenal’s game against Spurs this weekend.