Arsenal set their sights on bringing in a striker this summer and it reportedly came down to either Viktor Gyokeres or Benjamin Sesko.
Arsenal’s famous ‘process’ has been a thing for a few seasons now, with the Gunners finishing second in the Premier League for three straight years. This time, though, they reached the Champions League semi-finals where they were knocked out by eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain.
It’s hard to describe Arsenal’s 2024-25 campaign across all competitions as anything other than successful. Especially considering all the injury issues they went through. But the fans still feel like they’ve fallen short yet again.
Now, the board look set to make truly heavy investments instead of just ‘smart signings’ and adding players that have fallen out of favour in their rivals. The striker position has been a controversial one for the Gunners since letting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette — who were already in decline — leave in 2022.
Gyokeres and Sesko were the targets. And the former looks to be on his way to the Emirates.
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Viktor Gyokeres vs Benjamin Sesko
Gyokeres has taken European football by storm since leaving Coventry City and the Championship in July 2023. Signing for Sporting CP, Gyokeres has helped the club win back-to-back league titles in Portugal.
In the past two seasons, he’s scored more than a goal per league game (68 and 65), with out-of-this-world numbers in offensive efficiency metrics. He has averaged 54.6% shot accuracy, including blocked attempts, 61% big chance conversion rate and a +14.4 Expected Goals overperformance.
Gyokeres did take 17 penalties (and scored all of them), but even removing those, the numbers are still elite. Some fans worry that he could be a modern version of what Bas Dost was around 10 years ago. And I would disagree.
July 2023 was also when Benjamin Sesko went from Red Bull Salzburg to RB Leipzig, spending the same amount of time in Germany, a more competitive league, as Gyokeres in Portugal.
In this time, Sesko played just two fewer games than Gyokeres (though almost 2,000 minutes less), bagging 27 goals. His numbers are also impressive, overperforming his xG total by 9.6 goals, hitting the target 49% of the time and converting 45% of his big chances.
Better Arsenal fit: Gyokeres or Sesko?
Gyokeres, 27, is probably already a finished product – with not many likely improvements coming to his game in the next few years. But despite being older, it’s not like he only has three more seasons of high level football left. Nowadays, he could carry his good performances for five or seven years.
The Swede also looks like a more well-rounded and versatile striker. He’s able to impact the game inside the box as a target man, outside of it setting his teammates up or drifting out wide — particularly from the left. The diagonal movements inside are one of his favourites and he excels at it. He also likes to carry the ball more frequently and for longer distances.
Now, Sesko is just 22 years old and could get much better in the future. He boasts more raw technical ability and can also play outside of the box, but in a different style. He’s not as fast as Gyokeres and performs quick runs goalwards out of possession, instead of longer ones.
On the other hand, Sesko operates more — and better — as a hub for long balls. He surpasses Gyokeres in aerial duels contested per 90 minutes (4.3 to 3.2) and won (2.5 to 1.6 ). He had a higher success rate too, at 57% to 49%.
Arsenal usually play a different style than both Leipzig and Sporting, with much less fast-break opportunities and and a slower pace in buildup overall. So both Gyokeres and Sesko would need to adapt. At the same time, the Gunners have had issues getting central touches inside the box. They circle the ball around it way too much. So, either way, they’d be getting more help keeping the opposition centre-backs busy and getting more bodies near the goal.
It feels like the Gunners are tired of settling for second-placed finishes and Champions League semi-finals appearances and want to go all in for a big title next year. In this case, Gyokeres looks like a safer bet and a more appropriate signing considering the timeline of the team and the player.