It’s all about the Benjamin

Morning all.

A very quick Friday blog for you. The main story today is about links to Slovenian forward Benjamin Sesko – with a report from John Cross saying that Arsenal are in ‘pole position’ to sign the 20 year old from Disgustingly Sweet Energy Drink Leipzig.

Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how it pans out, but on paper this makes sense to me. I’ve said here often I just couldn’t see Arsenal splashing out the £100m+ fees for players like Victor Osimhen or Viktor Gyokeres (to the Victors no spoils – at least from North London this summer), while reported interest in Ivan Toney cooled significantly. At 28, spending a large chunk of cash on the Brentford man didn’t really seem like something we’d do.

So, the alternative was to go younger, to find someone with the potential to develop into a top striker, and on that basis Sesko fits the bill. Let’s be clear, he is talented, but still very raw – as you’d expect most 20 year olds to be. The basic ingredients are there, he’s got physical presence (he’s 6’5 – watch out from corners!) and good technical ability, yet obviously need some polishing.

But that too makes some sense when you have a coach like Mikel Arteta. Remember, this is a man who wanted Mykhaylo Mudryk and felt he could shape him into something we haven’t seen in his time at Chelsea as yet. I’m not saying he loves a project, but when you consider the kind of team Sesko would come into, with the kind of manager we have, you can see how the environment would be almost perfect for his development.

He wouldn’t be an immediate starter, so the pressure wouldn’t be as acute, and while the transfer fee might be significant enough (suggestions of £45m), it’s still half what a common or garden Antony goes for in the current market. I don’t think it’s the kind of price tag that would weigh a player down – and anyway, we’ve demonstrated you can lash £60m down the drain and still end up getting value for money. Waka waka!

Again, this is guesswork on my part and, until anything is confirmed, it will remain speculation – but if Arsenal started next season with Kai Havertz up front, and Declan Rice in something akin to what we know as the left 8 position, I wouldn’t be at all surprised. The knock-on effect of that is the need for a deep-lying midfield signing, perhaps someone like Martin Zubimendi – at least as long as Newcastle seek something close to £100m for Bruno Guimaraes. I don’t think we’ll pay that, and I don’t think we should pay that. Perhaps there are other targets for that position.

Adding a forward like Sesko gives us real depth at centre-forward, and while I have an itch about us signing a winger too, if you had him and Havertz as your strikers, with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus (100% fit hopefully), Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard as your wide options, that’s a very tasty forward line. Anyway, let’s see what happens with this one, but there’s a lot of smoke that could well become fire.

Here’s your obligatory YouTube compilation of his goals/assists from last season (left foot, right foot, head). Have a look.

Right, I’m gonna leave it there for this morning, but there is a brand new Arsecast for you below – chatting to Harry Symeou about a new deal for the manager, summer transfers and lots more.

Enjoy!

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