5 months ago
34 Benjamin Sesko raised brows across Europe after ignoring interest from several English giants.
Christian Falk now reports that Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United were keen on the RB Leipzig striker ahead of the summer window.
The Slovenian has now, instead, agreed fresh terms with the Bundesliga outfit. Though, he could be persuaded to depart the German top-flight next year given he already ‘wants’ to ‘make the next step’.
“Benjamin Sesko wants to make the next step but at the moment he’s only played one year in the Bundesliga,” the head of football at BILD told CaughtOffside in his exclusive Fact Files column.
“RB Leipzig made him a good new offer with a longer contract that keeps him at the club until the summer of 2029. He’s now the best earner at Leipzig with €10m a year, so it’s a good salary for him. Now he has a promise that he can leave next season if there are clubs again that come up with good offers.
“Players know if Leipzig promise them they’re free to go that the promise will be upheld. I think we will see him in the Bundesliga this season for sure, then we’ll lose him next year as we did with Christopher Nkunku and Dominik Szoboszlai.
“He could have earned a lot of money in Saudi Arabia – they offered him €30m a year. Dortmund were also interested but that’s a step too early. One more year at Leipzig and then he’s looking at the Premier League. I heard that Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United were interested in him.”
The former RB Salzburg hitman registered 16 goal contributions in 31 Bundesliga games in his opening campaign with Marco Rose’s men.
Who needed to sign Sesko this summer?
Darwin Nunez has also faced criticism for his profligacy towards the end of the campaign – (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)It’s debatable whether Arne Slot’s Liverpool truly need another striker with the likes of Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota still available at the club. Both Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah, likewise, could more than plug a hole in a central striker role if need be.
Over in London, however, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal would most certainly benefit from reinforcements in that area. Gabriel Jesus can be a menacing option up top, when fit. That said, the Brazilian has spent chunks of the 2023/24 campaign in the treatment room with various niggles.
Manchester United are perhaps in most desperate need of a striking addition in light of Rasmus Hojlund’s inexperience and Marcus Rashford’s discouraging inconsistency.
The England international disappointed with his haul of 13 goal contributions in 43 games (across all competitions) – a stunning decline from 2022/23’s tally of 40 goal contributions in 56 games.
A shame, then, that all outfits involved will be forced to look elsewhere.
