Gyökeres labours as the new-look Arsenal fall short against old boy Pepe

Home debut for £64m striker falls flat in friendly, as Arteta talks up ambitions for season

- Ed Aarons

New season, same old Arsenal? On an evening when Viktor Gyökeres was meant to announce himself as the solution to all of Mikel Arteta's problems, instead it was a figure from Arsenal's past who stole the show.

At £72m - £8m more than they may end up paying for the Sweden striker - Nicolas Pépé was an expensive Arsenal signing, a few months before Arteta replaced Unai Emery in 2019. Most of the fans who packed out the Emirates Stadium for this pre-season friendly will not have many fond memories of the Ivory Coast international's spell in north London, but he clearly had a point to prove here.

Pépé's early goal and strikes from Karl Etta Eyong and the former Tottenham loanee Arnaut Danjuma sealed an impressive win for Villarreal, and left Arteta with plenty of questions to resolve before Arsenal's opening game of the season next weekend against Manchester United.