Arsenal right back Ben White has offered a clear assessment of Viktor Gyökeres after the striker’s arrival at the club, praising his training habits and the physical presence he brings to the squad.

Gyökeres earned a prolific reputation during two years at Sporting CP in Lisbon, where a strong goal return prompted Arsenal to pay £55 million ($74.2 million) for the 27-year-old. His early appearances in north London have been mixed; Swedish media accused him of being out of shape after an underwhelming pair of appearances this month. Despite that, Gyökeres has impressed his new teammates in training.

“I can’t say a bad word about him to be honest,” White gushed to Arsenal’s in-house media . “He’s one of the most professional trainers I’ve ever seen, he’s right up there with Martin Ødegaard 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.”

White underlined Gyökeres’s combination of size and movement, and the challenge he represents for defenders.

“He’s a monster!” the Arsenal defender laughed. “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.

White’s remarks signal that, from the dressing room perspective, Gyökeres’s professionalism and physical profile are positives for Arsenal. The competition for places that followed the transfer is already being framed as a motivator within the squad, with training standards highlighted as a key benefit of the new arrival.

The Premier League Hall of Fame has become a permanent feature of the competition’s modern story. For a player to be eligible for a place in the Premier League’s Hall of Fame, they must have made 250 appearances in the division since its 1992 inauguration or achieved one of the following:

The list of inductees reads like a roll call of defining figures. The Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer has just a single league title to his name, but he’ll likely remain a record-holder unless Harry Kane opts to make a comeback post-Bayern Munich. Shearer’s greatest collective success came with Blackburn Rovers, but he’s immortalised on Tyneside.

Many regard Henry as the greatest Premier League player there’s been. The dazzling French forward has the collective accolades and individual achievements to supply a compelling case. Cantona was utterly unique. Man Utd took a flyer on Cantona at the start of the Premier League era, but the Frenchman proved to be the making of the Red Devils’ 90s dynasty.

Roy Keane is presented as arguably the greatest captain the League has ever seen, while Lampard remains the highest scoring midfielder in the competition, with over 600 Premier League appearances and three league titles with Chelsea. Bergkamp is remembered for sustained runs of brilliance that propelled Arsenal to league titles.

Beckham’s off-field prominence often overshadowed his on-field quality, but he was one of the stars of Premier League football in the 90s. Rooney’s arrival felt inevitable and he was a constant thorn for many opponents at the Theatre of Dreams. Vieira was an early Wenger recruit and the leader of Arsenal teams that conquered the country on multiple occasions.

Drogba’s 254 Premier League appearances all came for Chelsea, where he won four league titles. Kompany won Premier League Player of the Season during Man City’s dramatic 2011–12 success. Schmeichel redefined goalkeeping for his era. Scholes, part of the Class of ’92, evolved into a classy deep-lying performer. Ian Wright struck 113 Premier League goals and claimed a title in 1997–98.

Managers are represented too. Ferguson spent 26 years at United and inspired 13 league titles. Wenger managed a record 828 games and remains the only ‘Invincible’ manager in Premier League history.

Defenders and goalkeepers feature prominently: Adams, Čech, Ferdinand and Ashley Cole are all included for their defining contributions. The Hall of Fame collects these careers to explain why each figure matters to the competition’s history.

Martin Ødegaard has pushed back on criticism of his captaincy after Arsenal’s squad confirmed him as leader for the 2025–26 season.

The Norway international has built his career on blocking out external noise. After a difficult spell at Real Madrid, Ødegaard enjoyed a successful period following his permanent move to Arsenal four years ago. Last season he experienced a dip in form as injuries and the birth of his first child combined to complicate his campaign.

Tony Adams publicly questioned Mikel Arteta’s decision to persist with Ødegaard as captain given those recent struggles. Arteta answered by saying the squad had unanimously voted for Ødegaard to remain captain for the new season.

“It is true that we voted on it,” the Norway international told VG. “It was ultimately his [Arteta’s] choice anyway. It is a nice confirmation to get it.”

Pressed directly on Adams’s remarks, Ødegaard was clear about his approach to outside opinion. “I don’t care that much. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion and say what they want. I live with that. You can’t care what everyone says, there will be a lot of positive and negative things that can affect me. It’s important to just block it out, I’ve done it my whole career.”

In Arsenal’s most recent match against Liverpool, Gabriel Magalhães wore the armband because Ødegaard was only fit enough to make the bench. The attacking midfielder had suffered a heavy blow to his shoulder a week earlier and had been a doubt to feature. Ødegaard was able to appear as a substitute for the final 20 minutes.

Following that appearance he linked up with Norway for the September World Cup qualifiers. The captaincy vote and Ødegaard’s public reaction underline how the player and club have chosen to address questions about leadership and form going into the 2025–26 season.