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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
David Hytner

The man behind the mask: why Gyökeres’s celebration keeps the game guessing

Arsenal unveil new signing Viktor Gyokeres
Viktor Gyökeres after signing for Arsenal, but what inspired the mask? Photograph: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

Every goalscorer needs a trademark celebration and the one Viktor Gyökeres has shown off over the past few years has certainly increased its reach of late – fingers interlocked, thumbs pushed up, a mask formed across his mouth and nose.

As Gyökeres’s transfer from Sporting to Arsenal has edged along, fans of the London club became increasingly desperate for clues. They were convinced they spotted one when the defender Riccardo Calafiori was pictured at their kit launch with the shirt pulled up towards his eyes; mask‑style. And then there was Myles Lewis‑Skelly, another of their defenders, looking at a Gyökeres-to-Arsenal story on his phone and copying the gesture.

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