'He lives for goals!' - Ben White backs 'monster' Viktor Gyokeres to be a big hit for Arsenal after holding secret summer transfer talks with ex-Brighton team-mate

Arsenal splashed out a reported fee of €73.5 million (£63.4m/$86m) to land Gyokeres from Sporting this summer in a bid to boost their firepower. The striker scored 97 goals in 102 matches for the Portuguese side and is now back in the United Kingdom, where he previously took in spells with Brighton, Coventry and Swansea.

Gyokeres played alongside White at Brighton, and the defender has revealed he spoke to the Swedish star before he agreed to join the Gunners. White is also confident that Gyokeres will live up to his lofty price tag at Arsenal, saying he knew at Brighton that he was "destined for greatness".

He told Arsenal's official website: "Yeah, I know Viktor really well. 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’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 also backed his new team-mate to score plenty of goals in north London, adding: "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."

Arsenal will be hoping to return to winning ways when they resume Premier League action after the international break against Nottingham Forest.