As someone who can execute a slam dunk as easily as a close-range header, it is no surprise Benjamin Sesko has always reached for the stars.
A talented basketball player who idolises fellow Slovenian Luka Doncic, an NBA star for the vaunted Los Angeles Lakers, 6ft 5in Sesko set his sights on taking Erling Haaland’s No 9 shirt from the moment he joined Red Bull Salzburg in 2019.
Next season, Sesko may be trying to beat the Manchester City forward to the Premier League Golden Boot.
Arsenal believe the 22-year-old, who has trod the well-worn path up the Red Bull food chain to sister club Leipzig, is the player to give them the cutting edge they need to lift the title.
Last season, the Gunners’ top scorer in the league was Kai Havertz with nine goals – the first time in 101 years that no Arsenal player had hit double figures – and after injuries to Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Arteta often used deep-lying midfielder Mikel Merino at the centre of the attack.
Merino fared better than expected, scoring six times in 12 appearances up front including the third in the euphoric Champions League quarter-final victory over Real Madrid. But as talks progress on a deal worth about £70million, and with a trophy drought stretching to five seasons as Arsenal’s goals dried up in the second half of the season, Sesko would be expected to do far better.
As someone who can execute a slam dunk as easily as a close-range header, it is no surprise Benjamin Sesko has always reached for the stars
Sesko, at 6ft 5in, is renowned for his athleticism and leap, which should help him settle in the Premier League
Arsenal believe the 22-year-old, who has trod the well-worn path up the Red Bull food chain to sister club Leipzig, is the player to give them the cutting edge they need to lift the title
Though he is still in his formative footballing years, Sesko has been on the radar of the Premier League’s top clubs for at least four seasons. Indeed, Salzburg had some fun on social media at the expense of Manchester United in 2022 on learning of their interest in Sesko, who was then 19. ‘We now want €1billion, Bruno Fernandes and Fred the Red for Sesko,’ they wrote in July 2022.
Oliver Durr Dehnhardt, head of football strategy at scouting platform Eyeball, has followed Sesko since he was playing in the youth ranks at top-flight side NK Domzale in his homeland. Dehnhardt believes Sesko has the raw materials to succeed in the Premier League but needs to add sophistication to his evident gifts.
‘Sesko has the potential to become one of the best and most complete strikers in the game,’ Dehnhardt tells Mail Sport. ‘He is tall, physically dominant and excellent in the air. For his size, he shows great acceleration and has an impressive top speed. He can finish powerfully with either foot. That makes him a valuable asset for teams who attack in transition – similar to Haaland when he was at Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund.’
But there is a warning for Arsenal fans expecting him to get close to Haaland’s numbers in England. ‘Though he has a decent technical package, he needs to improve his link-up play,’ says Dehnhardt. ‘To reach the next level, he needs more balance to his game.
‘I would be interested to see how he would adapt to playing in a possession-based team, where space in attack is tighter. He needs to learn to work across the front line and find space in different pockets. It’s quite similar to the transition Haaland needed to make when he moved from Dortmund to Manchester City.’
Though he does not turn 23 until next May, there are few doubts about Sesko’s ability to switch countries. He has done so already twice in his short career and would be aided now by his excellent English.
He has perhaps prepared for this move for some time, given Arsenal’s push to sign him last summer – before he decided they could not promise him enough game time with Havertz the first-choice No 9.
‘He is exactly the type of player Arsenal need,’ adds Markus Fjortoft, a sports consultant and host of the Fussball Channel. ‘He is natural goalscorer, physical and athletic but with plenty of room for improvement, which will allow Mikel Arteta and the coaching staff to make their mark.
Though he is still in his formative footballing years, Sesko has been on the radar of the Premier League’s top clubs for at least four seasons
He does not turn 23 until next May, but there are few doubts about Sesko’s ability to switch countries
European football experts believe Sesko still needs to improve his link-up play
‘He is not the finished article and still needs to work on his finishing and decision-making. He might even need some time to settle, but at Arsenal he has players around him that would make him better.
‘If developed right, he can become one of the best strikers in the world over the next decade, if not the best.’
Coaches who despair at the amount of time modern players spend on their devices would find Sesko refreshing. In the hours before matches, Sesko switches off his phone because he believes excessive screen time makes him tired. He prefers to read books – factual rather than fiction.
A sparky character who wears his heart on his sleeve, Sesko is a popular member of the Leipzig squad and his ferocious table-tennis duels with Xavi Simons are the stuff of dressing-room legend.
When in his apartment, Sesko burns scented candles to help him relax, though this cannot always douse his emotional streak. He was crying on the pitch towards the end of Slovenia’s game against Kazakhstan in November 2023, which sealed their place at Euro 2024, and has had the occasional run-in with club officials.
‘My toughest moment came when I was playing at Salzburg,’ Sesko recalled last season, having had to wait until his fourth season in Austria for a starting role.
‘I should have been the first-choice striker there, and I voiced my opinion about something that didn’t go down well. I was young, of course.
‘Then all of a sudden, I wasn’t even on the bench. I was watching from the stands. I had to fight my way back to even be in the squad and then to get in the first XI. You could say it was the worst moment, but it made me much tougher and taught me how to act in such situations. It was a good lesson.’
The ultra-physical, ultra-athletic Premier League will certainly be a test of Sesko’s strength and endurance
Next season, Sesko may be trying to beat fellow Red Bull product Erling Haaland to the Premier League Golden Boot
A sparky character who wears his heart on his sleeve, Sesko is a popular member of the Leipzig squad
Sesko’s path – Red Bull Salzburg to the Bundesliga – has drawn comparisons with Haaland’s but he has some way to travel to be as prolific as the Norwegian. He scored 13 times in 33 league games last term, 14 in 31 the year before.
Yet whereas Haaland sometimes struggles in tandem with another forward, Sesko has dovetailed impressively with Belgian star Lois Openda at Leipzig.
The ultra-physical, ultra-athletic Premier League would certainly be a test of Sesko’s strength and endurance.
‘He is strong, good in the air and has an impressive eye for goal but he can go missing in games,’ says Berlin-based Bundesliga expert Mark Meadows.
‘That was certainly a factor in Leipzig failing to qualify for Europe for the first time as a Bundesliga club.
‘Even though he has a reputation for having a short fuse, his only yellow cards this season came in the same match, when they lost 2-1 at Stuttgart in January.’
After collecting a league-high six red cards in 2024-25, Arsenal will certainly hope they can teach Sesko, who is inspired by the similarly athletic Sweden great Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to keep calm on the pitch.
‘Zlatan is still my favourite player,’ Sesko has said. ‘The magic he could do, at his size, was unbelievable to watch. I like his character too – though it’s not the same as mine.’
Sesko has dovetailed excellently with his Leipzig strike partner, the Belgian Lois Openda
Arsenal will certainly hope they can teach Sesko, who is inspired by the similarly athletic Sweden great Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to keep calm on the pitch
Luka Doncic, a fellow Slovenian now starring for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA, is Sesko’s sporting idol
Sesko’s preferred shirt number is 30, which he has worn since his Salzburg days. Handily, the jersey is free at Arsenal after Raheem Sterling returned to Chelsea at the end of his unsuccessful loan spell in north London.
Sesko is as famous online for his celebration as for his goals – a jump for joy that would certainly impress his idol Doncic, who has an extra inch in height on Sesko and had to quit his beloved football because he was too tall (he made up for it by starring for Real Madrid’s basketball team before being drafted into the NBA).
‘People can see how high I can jump,’ Sesko admits. ‘Sometimes it’s higher or lower, depending on how much I’ve run before or if I’m tired or not, but I can jump really high. It feels amazing.’
Now Arsenal fans hope Sesko will help them clear the final hurdle.
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