Benjamin Sesko appears set to remain in the Bundesliga after Arsenal pursued an alternative target.
The Premier League giants have reportedly opted to throw their hat into the ring for Manchester United-linked Viktor Gyokeres.
If reports coming out of Portugal are to be believed, the Gunners are closing in on a deal for the Sweden international. Record (via the Mirror) claim that only a nominal fee separates Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal from a deal with Sporting Lisbon for the high-scoring striker.
Benjamin Sesko isn’t destined for Premier League transfer
(Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
As things stand, it would appear likely that Sesko will not be moving to the Premier League this summer.
Multiple CaughtOffside sources close to negotiations have confirmed that RB Leipzig’s demands (€90m [£77.5m]) were simply too much for Arsenal to commit to.
This has since been corroborated by our in-house Bundesliga expert, Christian Falk, in an exclusive update.
“Benjamin Šeško was Mikel Arteta’s first-choice option to reinforce the striker position,” the head of football at BILD wrote in his Fact Files column.
“However, Edu Gaspar, Arsenal’s former sporting director, was more focused on Viktor Gyökeres because the Sporting Lisbon star is a cheaper option.
“Now, at the moment, Šeško is too expensive for Arsenal and Manchester United. So, it seems he’s going to stay put for another season, unless a potential suitor is prepared to come in and pay €90m [£77.5m].
“It could still happen, but as we’re seeing with Arsenal, not every club is willing to pay this amount.”
That’s despite hopeful reports to the contrary on Arsenal’s allegedly ongoing pursuit of Sesko coming out of Germany.
How does Gyokeres compare to Sesko?
As far as raw output is concerned, Gyokeres smashed Sesko out of the park in the 2024/25 campaign.
The former registered 67 goal contributions in 52 games (across all competitions) to the Slovenian’s 27 in 45…..
