Arsenal were wise to walk away from the Benjamin Sesko transfer chase, and developments this weekend have clearly justified that decision.
Keen to win the race Arsenal had exited, both Newcastle and Manchester United saw a free path to the RB Leipzig striker. The Magpies made a bold move and reportedly met the German side’s asking price: €75 million plus €5 million in add-ons.
But the offer was rejected.
While the fixed fee matched Leipzig’s quoted valuation, the overall structure of the package was deemed unacceptable.
Behind the scenes: agent games and frustration
So if the fixed fee was met, what exactly are Leipzig trying to do?
Sesko, his camp, and Leipzig appear to be proving difficult to deal with. And Arsenal knew this long before others did.
One insider, quoted by Hand of Arsenal on X, described the situation:
“During negotiations, Sesko’s agent Elvis Basanovic had left club insiders jaw-dropped with his shenanigans. One insider said he presented Sesko as ‘Messi’.”
In contrast, the agent representing Viktor Gyökeres was reportedly calm, telling Arsenal’s sporting director Andrea Berta he would personally manage the majority of talks with Sporting’s Frederico Varandas.
Had Arsenal continued chasing Sesko, the frustration would likely have been immense. Between massive financial demands, a reportedly unclear release clause, and a difficult agent, the transfer was shaping up to be a minefield.
Sesko’s stance and Arsenal’s decision
Last summer, Arsenal were strongly linked with Sesko. But he opted to sign a new deal at Leipzig, likely using the interest to secure a bigger payday. If he truly wanted a simple exit, he should have ensured it in the contract.
Newcastle’s opening offer shows just how hard it still is to get the player out of Leipzig. Strangely, Sesko himself has not shown much public desire to push for a move and still seems uncertain about his next step.
While Sesko may yet become a top striker, Arsenal have likely dodged a bullet. Even if the Gunners had paid up this summer, how confident could they be that in three years his camp would not push for another major payday, as Alexander Isak’s representatives are reportedly doing at Newcastle?
Sesko is the top client of Pro Transfer, a firm known for seeking major deals for its talents.
All signs suggest Arsenal were right to read the room, and walk away.
A lucky escape Gooners?
Daniel O
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The German club clearly want a bidding war between EPL clubs to maximize their profit from Sesko and the boy is obviously reluctant to join Arsenal/ Man United/ Newcastle
Arsenal made the correct decision by leaving the negotiation very early, but Sesko seemed to be their main target and I also believe the boy would’ve been more suited to Arteta’s tactics than Gyokeres
I just hope Liverpool won’t get Isak and Newcastle or Man United won’t sign Sesko
Yea you are right @Gai,
But if you ask me Arteta needs to evolve his tactics if he must win major trophies. Many teams in the world don’t use Arteta’s tactics yet they have won big things. I have seen ManCity PepG use different tactics to win games. I think what matters now is winning a trophy.
A genius coach shouldn’t be too rigid, Gyokeres is what we have now let the coach bring the best out of him.
Have to give credit to Berta, he knows his job well. Well, he is not a novice at the trade. To succeed you need experienced folk, novices have proved time and again that they are incompetent to get the job done. Had it not been for Berta we would have spent our second summer chasing Sesko only to return empty handed
I agree TSRS. These signals of being much more trouble and potential future trouble had been present for months from both the player/rep and RB and perhaps from an inside perspective perhaps even back to last summer. Ultimately deciding to do business with Varandas speaks volumes just by itself.
It doesn’t really matter now, does it? Arsenal went for Gyokeres and got him, albeit after experiencing some “shenanigans” over that deal as well. These things can, and do, happen from time to time.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Berta is a skilled negotiator, both at buying and selling. His experience at his former club should be evidence of that – which is presumably why Arsenal appointed him.
That said, I think he’ll have his work cut out trying to offload the several players Arsenal wants to sell, but we’ll see how he does over the coming weeks.
With the benefit of hindsight now, it would seem as if Arsenal’s budget for this transfer window was some GBP200m before any player sales.
If that’s the case, I must say I’m highly impressed how that budget has been put into very efficient use.
Most of the observed weaknesses in the squad have been addressed: good replacements for departing players; a genuine striker; and an option each for Bukayo Saka and William Saliba.
Barring the departure of any first-team regular such as Kiwior or Trossard, I think the team is strong enough to go out there and compete for top honours.
New deals for Gabriel and Lewis-Kelly(and Nwaneri, hopefully) have added more sweetness to the overall summer business
Now to get some surplus players out the door and it would be a near-perfect window.
Andrea Berta has shown his hand; and it’s a good one.
Martinelli should be a third choice LW, as long as he is first choice this window can never be rated higher than 7/10
I’m not worried about our striker – I think he will be great –
I’m more worried about Izak going to Liverpool – They will be really tough to beat
Whoever has Isak on their books next few seasons will be constantly sweating on his fitness. As the article says Isak and entourage are pushing for their pay day, but now Liverpool have wisely backed away and not prepared to bid higher there re no takers for Isak. Isak and Newcastle are stuck with each other. The funny twist is, if Toon had £130M burning a hole in their pocket, would they themselves blow it on Isak? No is the answer. Howe’s surprise public statement about making Isak train with the kids like Naughty boy needing to earn the right to train with the first team again – Howe’s not happy, Isak’s not happy – after rejecting Liverpools huge offer for aging injury prone player there’s no buyers for Isak. Nothing to concern us Gooners, it’s just sooo funny mess.
If you wisely read a room, and walk away, luck doesn’t come into it, just flipping wise and professional.
With Man U now in for Sesko I really hope he doesn’t come back to bite us on the bum in the opening game😱.
By the way, referring to the premise of the article, our pursuit of Gyökeres went quickly without drama didn’t it…….not!!
Yes, it was a silky smooth transaction. No worries, just sign on the dotted line.