Arsenal will almost certainly land a new centre-forward this summer and the race to become Mikel Arteta’s new No 9 will reportedly come down to Victor Osimhen and another goalscorer, with Chelsea at risk of missing out.
Arteta likes current striker options Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah but is well aware that they are not quite good enough to fire Arsenal to regular silverware at the very highest level. As such, even though Jesus has been a loyal servant to Arsenal in the past few years, he will be replaced ahead of next season.
Arsenal have been heavily linked with Brentford’s Ivan Toney in the past, while they have also held talks with Bologna about Joshua Zirkzee.
Zirkzee’s transfer to the Emirates was deemed to be close at one stage, but Arsenal have since switched their focus to other attackers.
rsenal could now choose between two deadly strikers, as Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio states that they are also weighing up a statement deal for Napoli’s Osimhen.
“Yes I think he [Sesko] is one of the top targets of Arsenal. Not only Arsenal, but of AC Milan over in Italy. I think Arsenal will go for a striker,” the reporter said.
“Even Victor Osimhen could be a target, because Arsenal needs a striker like that, a real number nine. So we will see if Sesko or Osimhen, but I think Arsenal will be in for one of these two important strikers in the summer.”
Chelsea have pursued Osimhen for some time, and he is understood to be keen on a move to Stamford Bridge.
However, TEAMtalk revealed on Friday that while Osimhen’s switch to Chelsea is still alive, a lot needs to happen before it can be finalised.
With Napoli wanting over £100million, Chelsea will need to sell several players first before they can pay for Osimhen, so they do not break Financial Fair Play rules.
One of the players Chelsea will try to sell first is winger Raheem Sterling. But finding a club who is willing to pay his £325,000-a-week wages will be a very tough task.
It seems Arsenal will get to choose between Sesko and Osimhen this summer, with Chelsea forced to wait and see which striker is left for them to negotiate with.
