Arsenal already doing work to sign “electric” £70m gem

Arsenal will surely sign a new striker for big money this summer, but the question remains, who will it be?

The Gunners have scored just 64 goals in the Premier League this season, down from 91 last year and 88 the season before that, which is a major factor why they will conclude the campaign trophyless.

So, given that they’re unlikely to be unable to land Mikel Arteta’s dream target, are they about to snap-up an “electric” alternative?

Arsenal’s search for a new striker

According to a report by Miguel Delaney of the Independent, Arsenal have ‘laid the groundwork’ as they continue to pursue RB Leipzig attacker Benjamin Šeško.

The Gunners attempted to sign the Slovenian international early last summer before the European Championships, but the 21-year-old decided to sign a new contract with Leipzig instead of moving to North London.

Now though, Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports Deutschland claims that Šeško has a release clause worth €80m (around £68m), adding that a move ‘is also possible without triggering the clause’.

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Philipp Hinze, also of Sky Sports Deutschland, reports that Leipzig ‘don’t want to let’ him go but, with die Roten Bullen on course to miss out on Champions League qualification, all the indications are that Šeško will be on the move this summer, so could it be to Arsenal?

Why Benjamin Šeško would be a good signing for Arsenal

Of course, Šeško is not Arteta’s dream striker signing, that is Alexander Isak, with Sami Mokbel of BBC Sport outlining how he is top of the manager’s wishlist, while acknowledging that this move is very unlikely to happen, with Phil McNulty of BBC Sport adding that he cannot see Newcastle selling their ‘best player’ to a direct Premier League rival.

Meantime, speaking on the Arsecast Extra, James McNicholas adds that it is going to be near-impossible for Arsenal to sign the Swede if Newcastle qualify for the Champions League, which they’re very much on course to achieve, thereby meaning they’ll surely have to look elsewhere.

So, should Šeško be the next name on the list?

Well, analyst Ben Mattinson labels the Slovenian “electric”, praising his “two-footed ball-striking” ability, while Lee Scott of Total Football Analysis notes that he ‘possesses the ability to score a wide variety of goals’, which is certainly a useful skill to have, one that many members of Arsenal’s forward line do not.

Meantime, Luis Kircher of Total Football Analysis describes Šeško as an ‘exceptional talent’, while Alex Barker​​​​​​​ of Breaking the Lines believes the ‘hot prospect’ is destined for the top, sighting Matthias Jaissle, his former manager at RB Salzburg, who labelled him “a dream of a player”.

A 6 foot 4 monster of a centre-forward, much like Isak, the Leipzig man is very much a young version of his Newcastle counterpart. So let’s assess how the duo compare this season.

As the table outlines, in a near-identical number of minutes this season, Šeško and Isak’s statistics are often very similar, but with a few key differences.

Šeško boasts a slightly better goals – xG figure, while a higher percentage of his shots find the target, missing two-fewer Opta-defined big chances.

Meantime, Isak comes out on top when it comes to goals, shot-creating actions and pure total shots, while the Swede takes a higher proportion of his touches inside the opposition’s penalty area.

Nevertheless, if Isak is the unascertainable dream target, Šeško’s statistics suggest he would be a more than adequate, youthful alternative, firing Arsenal to the big trophies that they so desperately crave.

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