Viktor Gyokeres taunted about being Arsenal sub on Swedish TV and gives perfect response

Viktor Gyokeres was on the scoresheet as Sweden beat Poland 3-1 in the Nations League and the Arsenal striker responded to a post-match jab

Viktor Gyokeres had an admirable response when teased about playing second fiddle at Arsenal. The Gunners striker is firing on international duty with Sweden and was questioned after scoring in their 3-1 victory over Poland.

Things haven't been entirely straightforward for Gyokeres since arriving in north London last summer. He touched down with a hefty reputation from his time at Sporting CP and an initial £55million price tag, but failed to hit the ground running. The marksman recorded zero shots on his first league start.

Gyokeres did get the ball rolling, eventually scoring 21 goals in all competitions and finishing as the club's top scorer as they snatched the top-flight title. But he only started 26 of the 46 games he appeared in last term.

For all his goal-scoring exploits he caught flak and this season has been a domestic disaster thus far. He has started just two games under Mikel Arteta and is yet to score, with Kai Havertz preferred up top. Havertz has sustained a minor muscle strain whilst playing for Germany, though, so Gyokeres could be in for more minutes.

Nevertheless, for Sweden, the 28-year-old has been on fire. He scored the winner against Romania in a 2-1 Nations League Group B4 victory and bagged the third as his country bested Poland in Stockholm on Monday evening. Post-game, he received a slight jibe about his Arsenal playing time but had the perfect response.

The possibility of Gyokeres being rested was discussed by Viaplay after the Poland match and former West Brom defender Jonas Olsson chuckled: "He has rested enough at Arsenal."

When the striker was told of this, he replied with a grin: "I haven't played every minute, but I've had matches. Especially in the last few weeks. I may not have played every third day, but I feel like I'm in match form."

Sweden boss Graham Potter also joked that Gyokeres would "rip his head off" if he suggested the Arsenal man needed his minutes managed in upcoming matches against Bosnia and Romania.

Gyokeres sent a pointed message to his club manager, Arteta, earlier in the international break when he was questioned about the criticism he faces at the Emirates Stadium.

"It's clear that I want to play football as much as possible," he said. "Hopefully, that will come. You always want to be on the field as a football player.

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"Of course, you expect more playing time, but we have an extremely good squad with a lot of good players and have been doing well here at the start. I'm just trying to focus on what I can control and do my best to play more.

"I obviously need to do better and I'm willing to do it, so it's no problem. [The dialogue with Arteta] is good. I just try to do well when I get the chance and score goals."

Gyokeres' primary competition up front at Arsenal, Havertz, returned from international duty early after picking up his knock in Germany's 1-1 draw against the Netherlands. This minor strain is being assessed ahead of a clash with Leeds on October 10. Its extent is unknown, but if Havertz does miss the game, Gyokeres could be in line to feature.