What Ben White told Viktor Gyokeres before £63.4m Arsenal transfer as Martin Odegaard claim made

Viktor Gyokeres was reunited with former Brighton teammate Ben White at Arsenalafter several years apart. The pair came through the ranks together but now find themselves playing in the Premier League with the Gunners.

White has been missing since the match against Manchester United but is believed to be close to a return. Gyokeres has been the starting striker from the start and was further established in the role by the injury suffered by Kai Havertz and the ongoing absence of Gabriel Jesus.

White and Gyokeres first re-established their connections during pre-season when the Swede was signed. After snubbing a move for Benjamin Sesko, Andrea Berta quickly turned attention to the centre-forward, and in less than a month, he had been acquired.

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In an interview with the official Arsenal website, White admitted he greatly enjoyed welcoming new players to the club during pre-season. Gyokeres was, of course, among them, and the defender even admitted to holding conversations with him before he arrived and gave some background to those chats.

“Yeah, I know Viktor really well,” White said of his fellow 27-year-old. “We played together at Brighton for a long time, maybe three or four years, and I could tell even then that he was always destined for greatness. From the moment he came to Brighton, he was brought into the under-21s group, and you could see he had something special about him at that age.

“It was always me and him going up from the youth team to go and train with the first team all the time, so we spent a lot of time together. We never really broke into the first team consistently there, but we were always on the edges of it when we were young.

“It’s funny how things happen because we both went out on loan at different places, and now, of course, we’ve ended up at the same place after taking very different paths. I spoke to him a little bit before he signed, but there was a lot going on, so I didn’t want to bother him. All I said to him was that he would love it here, but I think he knew that already.”

White has made something of a reputation for himself in media interviews. However, in the chat with the club, he comes across as very grounded and light-hearted, and that comes through when he’s asked about going up against Gyokeres in training.

Asked whether he is ready to face the power of the Swede every day in training, he said: “Haha yeah, he’s a monster! He lives for goals doesn’t he? He’s a constant threat. You really don’t want to get in his way when you are playing against him, because he’ll just move you out of the way anyway!

"He’s such a big presence, and I think it will be a massive help that he’s already played in English football. You see a lot of people come to the Premier League and they've had no taste of what it's like, and it can be a struggle.

"But for Viktor, he's well used to it. He played at Coventry, and I played loads of games with him at Brighton. So he’s seen it, he knows what it's going to be like and what to expect from the defenders.

“I can’t say a bad word about him, to be honest. He’s one of the most professional trainers I’ve ever seen; he’s right up there with Martin Odegaard in that respect. It’s great that we have these players coming in, because all this competition for places makes people lift their standards and it makes everyone better."