Arsenal gave up on Benjamin Sesko to opt for Viktor Gyokeres over the lack of reasonable negotiation from RB Leipzig, according to reports.
The Gunners made signing a new centre-forward one of their top priorities over the summer after ending the season with midfielder Mikel Merino as a makeshift striker.
It became clear early on in the transfer window that RB Leipzig’s Sesko and Sporting CP’s Gyokeres had emerged as the two main striker targets for Arsenalwho were in negotiations for the two players at the same time.
Pundits, supporters and former players have been saying for a couple of years that Arsenal have to sign a top-class striker if they want to win more trophies.
And now it seems they could have that in the form of Gyokeres, who has scored 97 goals in 102 appearances since joining Sporting in 2023, with widespread reports on Sunday claiming a new offer worth €80m had been submitted for the Sweden international.
There have even been reports that Gyokeres has ‘sacrificed’ some of his salary in order to push through a move to Arsenal with a deal for Sesko now off the table.
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And now Hand Of Arsenal claim that RB Leipzig director of football Marcel Schäfer refused to lower their asking price for Sesko as the Gunners looked to get nearer to a deal.
Hand Of Arsenal wrote on X: ‘For the last 2 weeks Marcel Schäfer (DoF) for RB Leipzig refused to negotiate lower than €90 million. The mission then became very clear. Arsenal now trying to close a deal for Viktor Gyökeres. Talks ongoing over the structure of the fee and add ons.’
The Independent‘s chief football writer Miguel Delaney gave a similar reason over the asking price, while he also cited a failure to agree a ‘final package with Sesko’s camp’ as another reason for turning to Gyokeres.
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Delaney wrote: ‘Arsenal had still been at least €10m away from Leipzig’s valuation on Sesko, with the German club wanting €40m of the release clause up front, and around €40m split over fewer instalments.
‘A further issue is that Arsenal hadn’t agreed a final package with Sesko’s camp for the player’s terms, with the impasse lasting right up to last week, with Berta specifically feeling Leipzig’s demand was too high a figure. It is understood that Arsenal got increasingly frustrated with the pace of negotiations and with Sesko’s camp, which has been a key factor in the evolution of their striker pursuit.’
