- Arsenal have received a miniature boost in their pursuit of Benjamin Sesko
- The Gunners will have to fork out around £70million to prise him from Leipzig
- LISTEN to Whistleblowers: Are Arsenal fans right to feel aggrieved by the fixtures?
Arsenal’s chief transfer target Benjamin Sesko has potentially dangled his strongest hint yet that he is interested in the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta’s side are keen to sign Sesko after the £70million-rated RB Leipzig star recorded another outstanding season with 21 goals in all competitions.
They have long admired the Slovenian and had offers rejected for the 22-year-old in January.
He has been linked to multiple top European clubs and Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal are eager to land him, but he wants to stay in Europe.
Amid this saga, Arsenal fans may be encouraged to learn that Sesko has followed the club on Instagram.
It is by no means confirmation of a move, but it at least indicates that Sesko – or whoever is managing his account – is interested in the Londoners.
And the Gunners will take any boost they can get after The Sun’s report that Sesko is asking for much higher wages than they had initially imagined.
His agent Elvis Basanovic also insisted that they will not try to force a move away from Reipzig, telling GiveMeSport: ‘Even if there may be – or will be – a strong desire of the player to move to a certain club, we will never force or blackmail RB Leipzig.
‘I believe this is not the right way, because the way you actually exit from the club shows your values. Values that you are bringing into a new club.
‘I can understand in very big transfers, there are a lot of different interests but no matter what, I believe in football world should be more respect. So that’s why we do things in the right way or we don’t do them.
‘It’s very simple, even maybe in the media it looks very complicated.
‘[Sesko’s] numbers at his age compared to some strikers with already great careers at his age are confirming my words,’ he added.
‘He will move from RB Leipzig only when we recognise a special club, a special project with a special coach.’
Arsenal are typically patient in the transfer window and so it is not of a major concern that they have not signed anyone yet, even given Liverpool and Manchester City’s lavish spending.
Sporting director Andrea Berta wants to make five signings but has a wide range of potential targets if their principal ambitions don’t come off.
Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting Lisbon is their back-up striker target behind Sesko and would cost around £65m.
He is still desperate for a move to the Premier League following a stunning season where he scored 53 goals and added 13 assists in 52 games for Sporting.
However, there are reservations at the Emirates over whether he will be able to translate that form to the Premier League.
