No Arsenal player enjoys losing.

Mikel Arteta has instilled a winners’ mentality in this Gunners’ squad, and that was one of the biggest reasons why they became Premier League champions in the 2025/26 season.

It’s fairly easy to name the players with a real winning mentality in the squad. The likes of Declan Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes and Bukayo Saka are right at the top of that list.

Riccardo Calafiori says Viktor Gyokeres is Arsenal’s ‘worst loser’

Arsenal signed Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP for £55 million plus bonuses in 2025.

The Swede has divided opinion since his first day at the club, and some of his performances over the last year have been very frustrating. However, his 20+ goals in all competitions contributed to the Gunners’ success last term.

This season, Gyokeres hasn’t had much luck. He has fallen behind Kai Havertz in the pecking order, with his only starts coming against Ipswich Town, Napoli and most recently, Lille.

The striker failed to score in any of those games, and although Arsenal emerged victorious, he would not have been happy with his own performances.

That has probably been evident behind the scenes at the Emirates Stadium, as Calafiori named Gyokeres when asked about the ‘worst loser’ in the entire Arsenal squad.

He told Arsenal.com: “That’s not an easy one! I think I’m on that list, but for sure there are a couple worse than me as well. I think maybe Viktor Gyokeres as well. I’ll say him.”

Viktor Gyokeres needs to prove his winning mentality to save his Arsenal career

The worst losers are usually the ones with the biggest winning mentality, and Gyokeres needs to prove that in the coming months.

The Sweden international has won the league title in each of his last three seasons, and he has contributed on each occasion, twice for Sporting CP and once for Arsenal.

Now, it is clear that he is not the first-choice striker under Mikel Arteta, and an argument can be made that the Gunners boss’ system doesn’t particularly suit him.

However, it’s now or never for Gyokeres to prove his worth. He has to make a statement every time he plays to have any chance of saving his Arsenal career. If he doesn’t, we think he will be sold in one of the next two windows.