Glorified friendly? Viktor Gyokeres fires warning to Manchester City as Arsenal prepare for Community Shield clash in Cardiff

The Arsenal striker is in no mood for pleasantries as the north London club prepares to face Man City in Community Shield clash on Sunday. Despite the traditional season-opener often being labeled a "glorified friendly," the Swedish international insists the competitive fire remains high within Mikel Arteta’s squad.

"Against City? As a friendly? I don’t know what other people think but we want to win that game of course, for sure," Gyokeres stated while dismissing the notion that the match lacks importance. He believes that securing early silverware is vital for the team's momentum, adding: "When you win titles, you get confidence, you get a boost with everything that comes with it. So, yeah, it's only positive things with that. We want to make sure that we're not only on top of that but that we're ready for the new season."

The high-stakes encounter will have a different backdrop this year, as the FA confirmed the 2026 Community Shield will be played at Principality Stadium in Cardiff due to concert bookings at Wembley.

Arsenal will head into the fixture bolstered by the arrival of marquee signing Bruno Guimaraes, after agreeing a £75m deal with Newcastle. "Yeah, we're all very happy," the striker added regarding the new arrival. "He's an extremely good player and I think he will bring a lot of energy and his qualities to the team. I only have positive things to say."

While the attack looks potent, Arsenal have shown vulnerabilities in pre-season, shipping three goals in each of their last two friendlies. Gyokeres admitted there is work to do before their Premier League opener against his former club, Coventry City. "[Borussia] Dortmund played man-to-man, when they attacked, they rotated a lot and made runs in behind," Gyokeres said after converting a second-half penalty in Arsenal's 3-2 defeat against the Bundesliga giants. "It was a good test for us and we learned what we have to do much better defensively. The third goal came from a corner, the other two goals at the beginning were of course frustrating as well."

Despite the defensive hiccups, the hunger within the camp appears to be at an all-time high as they look to defend their crown. When asked if he sees the same desire in Mikel Arteta’s eyes as they approach the new season, the 28-year-old’s response was emphatic, simply stating: "More hunger!"

Retaining the Premier League title is a feat few have achieved, and Gyokeres is under no illusions about the difficulty of the task ahead. He acknowledges that being the team to beat brings its own set of pressures.

"You can think about it [starting the season as champions] in a million different ways," he concluded. "If it is harder or not I don’t know but it will be difficult to win the league, even if you won it last season it is still a big challenge.

"It is the best league in the world and a lot of teams are in very good shape with very good players. We won last season and we will try to win it this season as well."