First it was Ivan Toney. Then it was Alexander Isak. Now, 20-year-old RB Leipzig hotshot Benjamin Sesko appears to have forced his way to the top of Arsenal's attacking wishlist for the summer window.
The Slovenia international took a bit of time to hit top gear during his debut campaign in the Bundesliga, but there was no stopping the 6ft 5in talisman when he got into his stride, as he struck in each of his last seven top-flight appearances of the season.
Sesko - who graduated from the famed Red Bull Salzburg academy - will also be leading the line for his nation at Euro 2024, where stellar showings against Denmark, Serbia and England in the group stage could help to drive up interest further.
However, Leipzig may be powerless to let Sesko leave for an affordable £55m if that rumoured release clause is met, and despite talk of interest from Manchester United, the 20-year-old is supposedly favouring a switch to Arsenal, who can offer him Champions League football for 2024-25.
Using statistics from FBref for the 2023-24 domestic campaign, Sports Mole looks at how Sesko compares to Arsenal's current top two strikers Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, excluding Eddie Nketiah due to his lack of game time and expected departure.
Goalscoring
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Getting the first and most important metric out of the way, all of Sesko (31), Havertz (37) and Jesus (27) racked up plenty of top-flight appearances in the 2023-24 season, although the former and latter only made 17 starts compared to 30 for Arsenal's £65m German.
However, the RB Leipzig man tops the three-man list for pure goals with 14 to his name, while Havertz amassed 13 in the Premier League - still a personal best which included one penalty - as Jesus managed a paltry four efforts.
None of Sesko or Jesus's strikes came from the spot, but the former significantly out-performed his Expected Goals (xG) tally of 7.7, while Havertz slightly bettered his total of 12.3 and Jesus under-performed his tally of 6.3.
Sesko's remarkable over-achievement in the Expected Goals column points towards his ruthlessness in front of goal, and true enough, the Slovenian struck the most goals of the three despite having the fewest shots, 47 compared to Havertz's 68 and Jesus's 55.
Twenty-five of Sesko's attempts were on target - an average of 53.2%, the third-highest in the Bundesliga behind Amine Adli and Yussuf Poulsen - and his 0.30 goals-per-shot rating is only inferior to that of Youssoufa Moukoko's 0.36 in the 2023-24 German top flight.
Furthermore, Sesko's striking shooting statistics come in spite of the fact that he averaged the furthest distance from goal when letting fly, although 13 yards is not that much different to Havertz's 12.4 or Jesus's 12.2.
Playmaking
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As Leipzig's towering target man, Sesko had little in the way of playmaking contributions in the 2023-24 Bundesliga season, only setting up his teammates on two occasions to sit at the bottom of this three-man list.
Indeed, Arsenal new boy Havertz contributed seven Premier League assists, while Jesus actually set up his teammates more times than he scored himself in the top flight, registering five helpers.
The current Gunners pair also out-perform Sesko on the progressive passes front, as Havertz played 99 such balls - compared to 42 for Jesus and just 22 for Sesko, who also completed just 21 progressive carries; Havertz also tops that list with 55.
Despite fierce criticism of his form in the first half of the campaign, the ex-Chelsea man also blows Jesus (59) and Sesko (35) out of the water when it comes to shot-creating actions with 106, in addition to 22 goal-creating actions; Jesus and Sesko share eight apiece in that regard.
However, one creative metric where Sesko ranks higher than Havertz is shot-creating actions from a successful take-on, registering six such contributions compared to three for Havertz, who has never looked comfortable charging at defenders. Au contraire, Jesus thrives in such situations and posted nine.
The 20-year-old also has the highest take-on success rate of the three with 48.6% - Jesus is slightly down with 46.7% - but the statistics certainly prove that Arteta will not be getting a striker who can play the Harry Kane role should Sesko sport the red and white shirt next season.
All-around play
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Similar to the above, Sesko's passing statistics also pale in comparison to Havertz and Jesus, who completed 764 and 403 passes respectively in the Premier League, while the Leipzig striker only managed 215 in the Bundesliga.
As well as making the fewest passes out of the three, Sesko's success rate of 65.2% is also the lowest - Havertz again tops the list with 80%, no real surprise given his previous feats as a number 10 and brief, yet unsuccessful, stint in the Arsenal midfield.
Despite also having the fewest touches with 528, Sesko interestingly had the most inside his own penalty area with 31 - Havertz had 29 and Jesus 16 - and of the touches that the Slovenian had, the vast majority of them came off.
Indeed, Sesko only registered 32 mis-controls in the Bundesliga season, while Havertz had 54 to his name and the unpredictable Jesus 61, although the latter was sometimes deployed on the wing.
In terms of disciplinary statistics, there are none to report for Sesko, who was not booked or sent off once in the Bundesliga campaign. Meanwhile, Havertz racked up 11 yellow cards, and Jesus was cautioned on six occasions.
Defensive actions
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The Arsenal scouts should not be paying much attention to Sesko's defensive numbers when compiling their reports, but Arteta expects all 11 players to pull their weight in the rearguard when the situation calls for it.
However, the 20-year-old was not among Leipzig's top defensive contributors last season, making a mere 13 tackles - seven of which came in the middle third of the field - and winning just five of them, while Havertz won 15 of 35 and Jesus recorded a brilliant success rate of 17 from 24.
The trio are closely ranked when it comes to blocks - Sesko and Jesus had 23 apiece while Havertz leads the way on 26 - but the Slovenian only came up with a paltry three interceptions, 17 fewer than Havertz's 20.
Sesko does lead the way when it comes to clearances, though, registering 27 to best Havertz (22) and Jesus (12) in that category, and his 6ft 5in frame would certainly help Arsenal's defensive efforts from set-pieces.
Indeed, Sesko won 56.7% of his aerial battles, while Havertz - who nearly towers as tall as the Slovenian - succeeded with 50.2%, and the physically inferior Jesus was down at just 28.3%.
To sum up, while Sesko may not carry such an all-around threat akin to Jesus and Havertz, the 20-year-old fits the profile of a clinical centre-forward, exactly what Arsenal are in the market for to take them up to the next level.
Ben Knapton
