Chelsea are looking to steal a march on Premier League rivals Arsenal as they are building interest in signing RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko. This is as per reports from TEAMtalk, which suggest that the Blues have made contact with the German club as they look to acquire their target ahead of the Gunners and Manchester United.
The Slovenian striker has gained prominence in Europe over the last few seasons, performing at a high level despite being just 21 years old. His partnership with Lois Openda has helped Leipzig stay competitive as they work well off each other and are both among the goals with great regularity.
A tall yet agile player, Sesko’s dribbling abilities and physical prowess are a reminder of Zlatan Ibrahimovic during his Ajax days. Strong in the aerial battles and also able to take opponents on, Sesko has great potential which has been noticed by several clubs across Europe.
With Manchester United and Chelsea both hovering over this deal despite having two strikers apiece, it could be a tough one for Arsenal to get ahead.
How could Benjamin Sesko fit in at Arsenal?
Despite being just 21, Sesko brings with him tons of invaluable experience as he has made close to 200 senior appearances for FC Liefering, Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig. He has been a prolific scorer throughout his young career so far, netting 80 goals and providing 22 assists in 188 games for these three clubs.
Arsenal have adopted a new strategy of maximising their output from set-pieces, as Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have been tasked with delivering the ball. Gabriel Magalhaes and Kai Havertz are the two biggest aerial threats in the squad, and Sesko would be a dangerous addition to the mix.
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He would allow wingers Saka and Gabriel Martinelli more opportunities to run to the byline and provide crosses into the box, being a target man to score or to lay the ball off to others.
However, RB Leipzig are likely to ask for a fee well above £70 million, and with multiple Premier League giants interested, the fee could be inflated higher in the case of a bidding war.
It remains to be seen how this saga pans out.
