Why Arsenal signed Gyokeres over Sesko | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta has explained why Arsenal decided to sign Viktor Gyokeres over Benjamin Sesko last summer, as the two prepare to face over at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

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Arsenal were clearly in the market for a centre-forward last summer, but for most of the window there were only two names seemingly in serious contention for a transfer: Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting CP and Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig.

The Gunners held talks with both camps and both clubs before ultimately opting to do the deal for Gyokeres. With Arsenal out of the picture, Manchester United swooped for Sesko.

As a result, much of the hype ahead of Arsenal’s first game of the season at Old Trafford was about the battle between the two strikers. Yet neither had a particularly significant impact, as the Gunners won 1-0 through a set-piece goal by Riccardo Calafiori.

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Ahead of the reverse fixture this weekend, Mikel Arteta has explained why Arsenal ended up signing Gyokeres.

“Well, at the end, we have to make a decision, and we believed that Victor was the best one in the scenario that we were in,” Arteta said.

“The qualities that we didn’t have in that number nine as well, because we have the situation with Gabby and Kai out for many, many months, and we are very happy to have him.

“First of all, goals. Someone that can guarantee you goals. We know that word doesn’t exist!

“But then someone very direct, very powerful, a proper nine who can stretch the pitch, who has the goal between the eyes, and somebody that can stretch the pitch for us a bit more, especially when we have to play against certain opposition.”

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Months after that transfer decision, both strikers are still trying to prove themselves with their new clubs.

Gyokeres has nine goals from 27 games with Arsenal, whilst Sesko has five from 19. The Gunners’ striker has the better goals per minute, but both will want to improve their tallies significantly before June.

Perhaps there are some recent signs that things are starting to click. Gyokeres has two goals and an assist in his last three games, with those goal contributions comings away to Chelsea and Inter Milan. Sesko has three goals in his last two against Burnley and Brighton.

It’s not entirely clear whether Sesko will start on Sunday, as interim manager Michael Carrick benched him for last weekend’s win over Manchester City. But there’s seemingly a much better chance one of the two strikers will decide Sunday’s game than the one back in August.