Arsenal may now be glad to have missed out on one of their top summer transfer targets having seen what he just did at Euro 2024.
Arsenal still have a very busy summer transfer window ahead of them.
With Euro 2024 still ongoing, transfer business is somewhat on hold at the moment. However, once the tournament is over, the market will quickly roar into life.
Mikel Arteta will have a long list of things he wants to get done ahead of the new campaign. Signing a central midfielder to complement Declan Rice is now the top priority for Arsenal. The Gunners are also keen to secure the services of a new left-back.
There are also plenty of players likely to leave the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal will need to sign a new goalkeeper, too, should Aaron Ramsdale leave the club.
On top of all that, Arteta still wants to add a striker to his ranks. Arsenal have already tried to sign Benjamin Sesko this summer. The Slovenian forward was clearly a top target, and the Gunners pushed for a deal.
However, Sesko ultimately rejected Arsenal, spurning a switch to North London in favour of extending his stay at RB Leipzig.
Should Arsenal be pleased to have missed out on signing Benjamin Sesko?
The 21-year-old is undeniably an exciting talent. He also possesses many attributes which would understandably appeal to Arteta. He is young, physically imposing and powerful, technically gifted, and has produced some stunning finishes in the past.
However, he is not yet the finished article. Sesko recently demonstrated the rough edges in his game, as a spirited Slovenia side were eliminated from Euro 2024 by Portugal on Monday evening.
Slovenia came into this first knockout round clash as huge underdogs but ultimately succeeded in pushing Portugal all the way to a penalty shootout.
As was to be expected, Portugal enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and territory. However, Slovenia defended superbly, and were deserving of the clean sheet they kept across the 120 minutes.
Things could have gotten even better for Slovenia too, as Sesko had a chance to all but seal a famous victory for his country late on in extra time. The striker got the better of veteran centre-back Pepe and went clean through on goal.
Credit must go to Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa for coming off his line quickly and making himself big, but ultimately, Sesko should have scored. When the chance he will have been dreaming about came, with the hopes of a nation on his shoulders, his strike was tame and lacked conviction.
Arteta may well have looked at that moment and felt that he was seeing a player who is not yet ready to be the main man on the biggest stage. Given what Arsenal need now is a killer in front of goal, it is perhaps for the best that the Gunners missed out on Sesko.
Arsenal must focus on sealing Viktor Gyokeres deal
At 26-years-old, Viktor Gyokeres is much closer to being the finished article. He was deadly in front of goal for Sporting last season, and has reached the point in his development when he is very much ready to be figurehead of a team.
Arsenal are currently stalling over a deal for Gyokeres, though, and Arteta needs to act fast to ensure that he isn’t prised away by a rival.