The Secret to Mosquera’s Quick Adaptation in the Premier League: The Figure of the ‘Beast’ Named Gyokeres

Gilabola.com – Arsenal’s new defender Cristhian Mosquera revealed that his success in adapting quickly to the Premier League cannot be separated from the role of Viktor Gyokeres.

The Spanish defender said the Swedish striker was an extraordinary figure in training and had helped him a lot to adapt to the rigors of the Premier League.

Since being brought in from Villarreal last summer, Mosquera immediately gained great trust from Mikel Arteta to appear in the first team. He was immediately played when William Lintasa suffered an injury in the match against Liverpool in the third week.

In that match, the 20 year old player appeared calm and solid at the heart of the defense with Gabriel Magalhaes. Even though Arsenal lost due to Dominik Szoboszlai’s free kick goal, Mosquera’s performance received a lot of praise.

Since then, Mosquera has appeared eight times for Arsenal in all competitions. He is considered to quickly adapt to the intensity and style of play in English football. Arteta believes that Mosquera’s mentality and readiness make him one of the club’s best signings in the summer transfer market.

Mosquera explained that training with high level players was the main factor that accelerated the adaptation process. He assessed that the intensity of training under Arteta was much higher than his experience in Spain. He said that every training session always demands speed of thinking, physical strength and positional discipline.

The 20 year old player also felt helped by the warm team atmosphere. He said many of the players spoke Spanish, making it easy to communicate and feel comfortable from day one. According to him, this made the transition to a new environment in London run smoothly without excessive stress.

The Role of Gyokeres in the Adaptation Process

In an interview with Spanish media AS, Mosquera said that from the first time he spoke with Arteta, he had no hesitation in accepting Arsenal’s offer. He sees the project being built by the club as being in line with its ambition to develop. However, there was one thing that he said was very influential: training against Viktor Gyokeres.

Mosquera called Gyokeres an ‘animal’ in a positive sense. He described the Swedish striker as a very tough opponent in training sessions.

According to him, dealing with Gyokeres every day makes Arsenal’s defenders, including himself, continue to develop. Gyokeres’ physical strength, aggressiveness and determination on the training field are said to have provided valuable experience for him.

Mosquera considered that the experience of facing Gyokeres was much more challenging than the players he had faced in Spain.

He admits that at Valencia he trained with a lot of good players, but the intensity that Gyokeres brings has given him a big leap in his defensive qualities. “Practicing against him is like facing a real match,” he said in the interview.

Gyokeres himself has scored three goals in his first ten appearances with Arsenal. Two of them came against Leeds United, while another goal was scored against Nottingham Forest. Even though he is not yet very productive, Arteta assesses that the striker’s contribution is not only measured by goals, but also by his work ethic.