The debate among Arsenal supporters over who should lead the line next season continues to intensify, with Benjamin Šeško and Viktor Gyökeres emerging as the two standout options. While both strikers offer unique qualities, recent developments suggest Arsenal have now prioritised one over the other.
According to reports, Benjamin Šeško is currently viewed as the preferred candidate to spearhead Mikel Arteta’s attack. The RB Leipzig forward has been on Arsenal’s radar for some time, with interest dating back to last summer. After scoring 21 goals in 45 appearances last season, the 21-year-old has firmly re-entered the club’s sights.
Sporting Director Andrea Berta is understood to be leading efforts to secure a deal, as Arsenal prepare to make their first major attacking addition of the window.
Wage demands may have priced Gyökeres out
While Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyökeres boasts a phenomenal record, 54 goals in 52 games, the Swedish striker’s financial expectations appear to be a stumbling block. According to Simon Phillips via Substack, Gyökeres’ representatives are pushing for a weekly salary of £300,000.
That figure would shatter Arsenal’s wage structure, which Arteta has worked hard to maintain. The Gunners’ hierarchy are keen to avoid the kind of inflated contracts that once destabilised the squad, and there is little appetite to repeat past mistakes.
A similar issue is reportedly affecting Arsenal’s interest in Nico Williams, whose wage demands are also considered excessive.
Per Capology, Gyökeres is currently earning £39,000 per week at Sporting. A jump to £300,000 would represent an eight-fold increase, one that was always unlikely to align with Arsenal’s internal structure.
Given this context, the decision to focus on Šeško makes sense. While he may not yet be as prolific as Gyökeres, Arsenal would be acquiring a young striker with enormous upside.
Šeško’s development could suit Arteta’s philosophy
Šeško’s profile fits perfectly with Arteta’s development-focused model. The Slovenian has already shown he can lead the line at a high level, and under the right guidance, he could take the leap to becoming a world-class centre-forward.
His style and potential have even drawn comparisons to Alexander Isak, another striker Arsenal considered but ultimately missed out on before his move to Newcastle United.
This time, the Gunners may not want to repeat that mistake.
What are your thoughts Gooners?
Daniel O
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Who did this to my beloved team, arsenal? Every time we have the opportunity to acquire a super star that will help get us trophies, we will always come up with one excuse or the order. What we need now is a striker who is as prolific as Gyokeres. A striker who will make an instant hit. Before now, it was his age. Now, its wage. How much is Harvetz earning? I remember there was a time we had the opportunity of signing CR7, Drogba, Yaya Toure and other super stars, missed them because of one flimsy excuses or the other. Please, let Arteta & co know that we want an immediate solution to our trophyless seasons and not a long time project. Some of us fans would prefer to rule England and Europe in the next two or three seasons than to continue with the yearly shameful stories.
You and I that paying the lad £300k is way too much, you’ve to check averagely what other stars are collecting. I personally won’t pay that guy more than 120k, if he comes and proves his worth, he gets a pay rise just as the likes of Saliba and Saka did.
Let us intensify our efforts on Gyokeres. I don’t know why Arteta personally loves players that hardly score large number of goals: apart from Aubameyang, who have scored the large number of goals before Arteta entered Arsenal, no other striker under him have ever scored 20 Premiership goals and I don’t see that changing with Sesko who scored paltry 13 goals at less fancied Bundesliga. His Champions league goals were just two! I’ve been watching him from Salzburg for over three years now, he’s not the prolific type. We need Gyokeres and Samu Aghehowa.
AP, I’m pretty sure the last player to score 20 PL goals before PEA was RVP, and he left about 12 years ago. So it’s not just under Mikel that we’ve suffered a CF who couldn’t score 20 PL goals.
Btw, Sesko scored 4 CL goals this season, not 2.
Portuguese Primeira Liga is less fancied than the Bundesliga
Sesko is fine for me. Arsenal must run away from players that are motivated primarily by money
Gyokeres, if this report is true, wants to be the highest payed Arsenal player. Does that make sense?
In the 23/24 season Arsenal scored 91 goals without a Gyokeres. In fact the highest goal scorer (shared between Odegaard, Saka and Martinelli) scored 15 goals. Arsenal are very good at sharing the goal-scoring responsibility
A young and hungry Sesko, along with our current players firing on all cylinders, will take us to glory days
We just hope the goddess of injuries will be kinder to us next season
Our defensive solidity will likely get even better making Arsenal more difficult to beat.
I’m looking forward to the new season
COYG!!!
Your point is spot on and Gyokeres asking for that ridiculous figure is completely out of place. Sesko is superb for the team and will be hungrier and not money-motivated. Sesko will be a very ideal signing and one that will shock many with the level of productivity.
u still want to go trophyless, Gyokeres z de only soln coz he has proven it already,,, sesko z a very good player bt won’t bring n an immediate impact,,, let’s us Reason 👌
I totally agree with you my fellow Gunners how on earth can you jump from £39 000 to £300 000 that crazy.He want come and make riches at Arsenal.This is English league its different from Portugal where he is dominating sometimes he won’t score more goals as he is doing
I am Team Sesko all they way. He is young, flexible, trainable and has the ability to play in more than one position. Gyokeres is an excellent play in the Portuguese League, which is ranked 7th in Europe. Does anybody remember Georginal and Nicholas Pepe? They were excellent in the French League 1. How about Nunez before he joined Liverpool? He was as prolific just like Gyokeres in the Portuguese League
I think Pepe was more similar to sesko rather than Viktor, and FYI mbappe also came from Ligue 1, Nunez is no where close to Viktor and the numbers will tell you that. Playing well and scoring goals don’t always equate to the same thing. Right now most will urge how well players played where etc, but realistically speak it’s the probability that counts because there’s no guarantees how well a player will do, and statistically speaking Viktor has the highest probability to help Arsenal to get to the next level and actually win trophies and mybe even the UCL. Merino is a perfect reason why the probability of Viktor would do very well for Arsenal, Merino scored a very decent amount of goals coming in as a make shift striker because all Arsenal needed was a target upfront. Viktor is a million times more effective and prolific than Merino. So it’s simple, the math adds up. If I was Arteta I’d sign both and sell Jesus and Haverts because they both getting just taking up the wage bill. Aswell as Martinelli, sesko would do great in Martinelli’s place especially with a target man man upfront, which will also give Saka and Martin Odegaard much more room to excel. Plus we all know that last season we didn’t play bad we just needed more goals and a greater treat upfront to diversify the ways we score goals.
So, Gyokeres wanted £40,000 more per week than we pay Jesus to bounce scoring chances off his knee or be out injured for 20 weeks at a time? Seems like a reasonable ask by comparison. Havertz is making £280k per week to lead the league in missed scoring chances. Good old Arsenal. Overpay the dross and then cry poverty when a guy who is actually worth the money comes along. F.C. Next Year strikes again.
Personally, I think we have become a hunting ground where we spot for others. We ought to be cautious and prudent, however. Primera, especially, isn’t a very promising hunting ground, if past experiences are anything to go by. Dawn Nunez ink has barely dried up. I would root for premier league proven names that come in avalanche. Lest we forget, C Nkuku, M. Mudryk, N Pepe to name but a few were scoring for fun before they tasted the blunt side of EPL.
Mind I remind you CR7 came from there along with many other great players. It’s mostly got to do with what the manager can do with the player and how the player suits the system.
Mind you I’m a huge fan of sesko
I fully support sesko recruitment. He has full pontial of becoming a threat ceter forward and he can serve the club for many years to come. Thank you
Bruno Fernandes, Joao Neves, Luis Diaz ,yvn many other players hv come from Portugal Liga and displayed instant impact , leave alone Darwin Nunez cz yvn n premier league, teams exchange players bt thy fail to work
Arsenal needs a striker who can win games now, not someone who might need 1-2 years to settle or grow confidence.
Gyökeres is more of a guaranteed upgrade on what Arsenal currently has (Jesus, Haverts, Trossard as false 9s).
Sesko might become great—but do Arsenal have time to wait?
🔥 Arsenal’s Core Problem: Finishing
📉 Stats Don’t Lie
Arsenal created more xG (expected goals) than Man City in 2023/24 but didn’t score when it mattered.
In matches like vs. Aston Villa, Porto (UCL), or West Ham (home), they dominated but lacked a clinical edge.
⚠️ Current Strikers:
Gabriel Jesus: Great link-up and pressing, but unreliable in front of goal.
Trossard: Good utility player, but not a No. 9.
Arsenal has everything else—a solid defense, control in midfield, wide threats (Saka, Martinelli), and tactical structure. They need a cold-blooded finisher, not another “project player.”
🧠 Arteta’s “Project” – What Is It Really?
If it’s true that Gyokeres team is demanding £350,000 per week, then it’s better Arsenal go for Sesko, Sesko is just 22 years old. He represents good investment. Arsenal need not rock the boat by signing Gyokeres.
Arsenal needs performing striker who can win any game, not player will come begin adopt d system
We need proving premier league striker, the like of Alvares of Ath Madrid, not the other league.
Doesn’t sound right to me – if he’s asking for that much of an increase, suggests a problem (believing his own hype or motivated too much by the money). If true, I’d probably steer clear.
Wage demand is not the problem, problem is we already have Jesus & Haverts on high wages and we can’t get rid of them
He can go to Man U or Chelsea or wherever else he can get that money. Not for this Arsenal team.
If everyone on this team hit close to their best, the team should be okay. Just need a capable bench, with competition and support for every position.
PSG is the No. 1 team in the world today without a striker. We need to look at why our players are getting injured. We scored 88, 91 and 70 with lots of an injuries. We need a good bench.
For me, Sesko would fit our playing style better. If Gyokeres really wants £300,000 let him move to Saudi.
Gyokeres or nothing simple as it…
The real challenge we aren’t scoring more goals is that our midfielders and wide men aren’t scoring enough goals. Mbuemo scored more goals than our widers combined. Cunha scored more than our attacking midfielders combined. Ode needs to score more or should be a bench warmer. Rice should be scoring more. He misses more chances than he scores. Saka and Martinelle need to score more than they offer now. Kai has to offer more or he will be a misfit in the team. His acquisition is the reason we don’t have a CF. He and Jesus have to justify investments in them. If the above are doing well Sesko will naturally fit in with little or no pressure at all.
We missed Isak because his last season in Spain he was more or less a flop with 8 goals in all competitions. AFC in that year was highly risk averse. I think that’s why we also missed Bruno Gaimarise to Newcastle.
We have learnt a lesson or two. We should go for Sesko and also revamp our attacking midfield and wings.
Arsenal sitting on the fence once again. What does it matter if Gyokeres is looking for £300,000 a week he is worth it. Go get him before Chelsea ,Man Utd , Liverpool or Man City snatch him from under Arsenal’s nose.
The difference in Sesko sale price and Gyokeres sales price is enough to pay Gyokeres salary so this should be put in to consideration. Gyokeres statistics is what Arsenal need to get to the top level that we want to be. We want trophies and not just trophy but treble
Portuguese league is NOWHERE as strong as in Germany; with the age difference of these two potential Gooners it’s a NO BRAINER to me to go for Sesko. With the addition of another wide sided player….WOW
It’s going to be difficult to get a young player to get 20+ League goals per season which are required for Arsenal to have any chance on EPL Championship. It’s high time Arsenal win the league & UEFA Champions League. Is Sesko going to deliver? Arteta is also running out of time .