Viktor Gyokeres is edging towards a return to the starting line up after his hamstring setback, but it is a vivid description of his mentality from a former teammate that has underlined what Arsenal have missed during his absence.
After missing four matches through injury, the striker has made two brief substitute appearances and is in contention to start at Villa Park on Saturday.
With six goals since his summer arrival from Sporting, his impact is already clear. Yet the intensity driving his performances was laid bare this week by Martyn Waghorn, who played alongside him at Coventry City.
Speaking on the Under the Cosh podcast, Waghorn described the edge Gyokeres brought to everyday training in uncompromising terms. Asked whether he saw him becoming one of Europe’s leading forwards, Waghorn said: “Errrm, mentality-wise, yes. He was a machine. Ability-wise at the time, no.
“Vik was unbelievable. Like everything he did, I could see him being a top striker. No way did I think within three years he’d be at Sporting, Champions League, whatever…
“But his drive and will to want to be, yeah, he was so focused. He was like, ‘I’m going to be the best,’ and I was like, ‘OK mate, whatever.’”
Waghorn admitted he did not fully believe the declaration, despite the conviction behind it. “Yes and no. He said it with that much conviction and when he trained he was evil. He had this look in his eyes like, ‘I’m going to kill you,’ and that’s how he trained.
“He’s mad but he believed in himself and yeah, incredible. And what a great guy as well. He’s a funny guy.
“But he trained like every day was the last day he was going to play for you. And the gaffer is like, ‘we’ve got a game tomorrow, Vik,’ and he’d say, ‘no, no, I’ve got to score five goals, I need to do this, do that…’’’