Arsenal tipped to pre-sign Benjamin Sesko in January for €60m

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 22 Oct 2024 07:47 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal are being tipped to pre-sign Benjamin Sesko for €60 million in January, with the Leipzig star not officially joining the Gunners until the end of the season.

That is according to GiveMeSport, who report that Arsenal are considering opening talks with Leipzig and Sesko about such an arrangement.

The plan would be to meet Leipzig’s asking price of €60m for Sesko in January but allow him to remain at the Bundesliga club until the summer of 2025.

The report claims that Leipzig would accept such an offer and would not demand more than €60m for the striker.

It is believed that upon signing a new contract with Leipzig in June, Sesko secured a gentleman's agreement with his club that will allow him to leave in 2025.

Arsenal to return to Sesko?

Sesko was Arsenal’s number one attacking target during the past summer transfer window.

READ MORE: Latest Arsenal transfer news

Arsenal had been in negotiations for several weeks with Leipzig and Sesko, and believed that a deal was all but done - with only some formalities to complete before the 21-year-old would agree on personal terms.

Sesko had made it clear in negotiations that he wanted to join Arsenal over other interested clubs such as AC Milan.

And meetings with Sesko’s entourage had all pointed to the striker joining Arsenal.

It then came as a huge shock when it was revealed at the start of June that Sesko would be staying at Leipzig, and he subsequently signed a new contract with the club.

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The Gunners remain interested in Sesko ahead of 2025 and are expected to return for the striker, possibly as early as January.

Indeed, the fact that Arsenal chose not to sign a natural number nine after Sesko’s rejection suggests they may make a new move.

Sesko scored 18 goals in 42 games for his club last season and went to Euro 2024 with Slovenia.

This season he has six goals in 10 appearances for Leipzig.