The Gunners are desperate for a striker to end their trophy drought and are monitoring two of Europe's best this summer
Arsenal’s need to buy a striker this summer is the worst-kept secret in football.
The Gunners finished 10 points behind champions Liverpool, who practically played their final few matches in flip-flops, and the key difference between the teams lay in attack.
While Arsenal’s division-leading defensive record was superior to Liverpool’s by seven goals, they scored 17 fewer. Their total of 69 (the third-highest in the Premier League) was 22 less than the previous season.
Arsenal have not had a 20-goal-a-season centre-forward (top-flight wise) for half a decade, since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit 22 in 2019-20. No player has scored more than 16 in five seasons since, and no centre-forward has scored more than 13.
Arsenal need a clinical No 9
In previous campaigns, that was not an issue as the work was spread out. Three Arsenal players reached double-figures in 2023-24: Bukayo Saka (16), Kai Havertz (13), Leandro Trossard (12). Four managed it in 2022-23: Gabriel Martinelli (15), Martin Odegaard (15), Saka (14), Gabriel Jesus (11).
But there is no escaping the fact that Arsenal need a more clinical finisher, and acquiring one for Mikel Arteta is at the very top of new sporting director Andrea Berta’s to-do list.
RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres are the two number nines in the frame. Arsenal have made an approach for Sesko, but are keeping their options open.
Both are tall, powerful, athletic forwards who would add a muscular dimension to Arsenal’s attack as well as an increased goal presence. But how do their profiles compare?
Project player vs prime player
At just 22, Sesko has already won four major honours, been named his country’s best player, earned a big-money move to a club in one of Europe’s “big five” leagues and is closing in on 50 caps for Slovenia.
When Gyokeres, who turned 27 last week, was Sesko’s age, he was playing for Coventry City in the Championship after mixed loan spells with St Pauli and Swansea, and had played just twice for Sweden.
The i Paper spoke to youth coaches who worked with one or the other for previous articles, and their comments support the theory that Sesko was a prodigy and Gyokeres a late bloomer.
“Although he was not nearly developed yet, he was extremely fast, had a long stride and an excellent shot with both feet,” Rok Zorko, a youth coach at NK Krsko Posavje, told The i Paperlast summer about Sesko.
“In two years of playing for us, he scored more than 100 goals in all matches. This is definitely a national record.”
WHAT A GOAL!! 😨
Benjamin Šeško scores his 21st goal for RB Leipzig 🔴 pic.twitter.com/6qlInnGbIh
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 3, 2025
“He was different. Not like the other BP players,” David Eklund, who worked with Gyokeres at Stockholm-baded IF Brommapojkarna (BP), told The i Paper in 2023.
“BP players always have good technique and are good in one vs ones. Viktor was another type. He worked hard on the pitch, was strong and a very good finisher, but he was not the biggest star.
“Some people said that he was never going to play in a professional club because he was not the best with the ball. He was not the biggest star, not like Dejan [Kulusevski, another product of BP’s academy].”
Head-to-head comparison
Both forwards have emerged on the radar of top clubs everywhere due to their goalscoring exploits over the past two seasons.
Gyokeres’ record since signing for Sporting from Coventry in 2023 is astounding.
He has 68 goals in 66 top-flight games, form that has been pivotal to Sporting winning back-to-back league titles for the first time since the 1950s, while his overall tally stands at 97 in 102 appearances in all competitions.
Sesko’s numbers aren’t as eye-catching, but scoring in Germany is theoretically harder than in Portugal. The Bundesliga is ranked as Uefa’s fourth-strongest domestic league, Primeira Liga is seventh.
Sesko has 27 goals in 64 matches and 39 in 87 overall since signing for Leipzig from Red Bull Salzburg.
It is also worth pointing out that Gyokeres’s numbers have been boosted by penalties. Seventeen of his 68 league goals have come via the spot, compared to two for Sesko.
The analyst’s view
Analytics FC chief executive Alex Stewart says: “In all-round terms, Gyokeres offers more in his game. His expected goals (xG) is higher, both overall and relative to peers in his and Sesko’s respective leagues. Gyokeres’ passing, pass reception, and link-up play is also of higher quality.
“Sesko adds more aerial threat from xG, and is also stronger in his pressing and counter-pressing.
“Physically, while both players have elite-level athleticism, Sesko’s physical output this season in terms of high speed runs and high accelerations has been significantly better.
“It’s worth saying that Portugal’s top tier and the Bundesliga are physically comparable leagues in terms of intensity of running.
“At this point, the data would say that Gyokeres is a more well-rounded striker, but Sesko’s all-round athleticism and pressing game make him a strong fit in systems that require more of a power forward.
“Both have slight issues around xG. Gyokeres overperformed by around 8.5 [goals] but has a strong npxG (non-penalty xG) per shot.
“Sesko’s overperformance was less, which indicates more stability, but his npxG per shot is around 0.04 lower, which shows he shoots from less advantageous positions.”
Who should Arsenal buy?
If it comes down to a straight shootout, most clubs would go for the younger option; that seems to be the path Arsenal are leaning towards.
Sesko is already performing at a high level and has the potential to explode. Gyokeres is arguably peaking right now and has far lower potential resale value given the age difference between them.
It is a risk. Arsenal are possibly a goalscorer – and elite left winger – away from being a title-winning team. Maybe the more experienced Gyokeres, who has played here before, would hit the ground running quicker.
However, if they want a set-and-forget striker to potentially lead the line for the next decade, prioritising Sesko makes sense. Likened to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sesko has the tools to succeed in England.