Benjamin Sesko with the Liverpool badge and an Arsenal badge crossed out
Benjamin Sesko with the Liverpool badge and an Arsenal badge crossed out
According to reports, Liverpool have joined the race to sign RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, who is a top target for Premier League rivals Arsenal.
Sesko was linked with a move to the Premier League last summer but signed a contract extension at Leipzig.
The Slovenian international reportedly has a gentleman’s agreement with the Bundesliga side that allows him to leave the club at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea were all linked with Sesko, who has gone on to score 17 goals in 34 appearances for Leipzig across all competitions this term.
Liverpool have now reportedly joined the race for Sesko’s signature, with Darwin Nunez expected to leave the club this summer.
According to transfer journalist Graeme Bailey, writing for Rousing The Kop, the Reds ‘have been in contact over a summer move’ for the 21-year-old.
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Indeed, with Darwin ‘expected to be sold’ and ‘bring in a healthy transfer fee’ which will be spent on a replacement this summer.
There are ‘several options’ being explored by Arne Slot’s side, though Bailey says ‘contact has been made with Sesko’s representatives over recent weeks’.
Having reached a gentleman’s agreement with Leipzig, Sesko is ‘likely to be sold in 2025’ and a transfer to England ‘is growing increasingly likely’.
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Sesko’s ‘preference is to join a London club’, which is not ideal for Liverpool, though the player’s camp ‘have made it clear he is very much open to other options’.
It is believed that Sesko has a £50million release clause in his contract – ‘but it’s understood that this will not necessarily have to be met in full to strike a deal with Leipzig’.
The fee is viewed as ‘more of a marker for the eventual fee’, the report claims.
Sesko is not the only Liverpool striker target, though it is revealed that they ‘are starting to explore the parameters of a deal’.
It is unclear where Darwin will end up but it is widely expected that he will leave Anfield in the summer transfer window.
Atletico Madrid have been linked with the Uruguayan striker but the Spanish club’s CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin recently played down those rumours.
Marin said: “A move for Darwin Nunez? We are not looking for a striker; our team needs reinforcements in other positions, which is what the Atletico Madrid management is currently discussing.
“Nunez is not part of the club’s transfer plans for the upcoming period and the reports about our interest in the player are completely baseless.”
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