How Arsenal target Benjamin Sesko’s finishing compared to Harry Kane’s in the Bundesliga last season

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At the midpoint of last season, Arsenal fans were crying out for Mikel Arteta to sign a striker who could bury chances with ruthless precision.

Gabriel Jesus was injured, Eddie Nketiah wasn’t firing and Kai Havertz was still being deployed as a number eight.

Fast-forward to now, Havertz is now set to be the leading man as a false nine next season, and Jesus and Nketiah’s futures are seemingly undecided.

Arsenal are interested in signing a striker who can support and complement Havertz, without necessarily interfering with his role as starting striker.

Enter Red Bull Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko.

Arsenal have reportedly now sent a £46m bid to Leizpig for Sesko, which falls slightly below his £55m release clause.

And although some further negotiation may be necessary, Arsenal must be confident that a deal can be achieved.

But with 21-year-old Sesko still a relatively new name to English football fans – what can Arsenal expect?

Sesko scored 14 Bundesliga goals in 31 appearances last season, with just 17 of those coming as starts.

Benjamin Sesko had the biggest xG overperformance in the Bundesliga last season

Sesko’s 14 goals in 17 starts are impressive figures standing on their own, but are made even better when contextualised by his xG numbers.

Via WhoScored, Sesko overperformed his xG by 5.98 in 2023/24, the biggest xG overperformance in the Bundesliga last season.

And despite scoring more goals, an incredible 36 goals in 32 games for Bayern Munich, Harry Kane’s xG overperformance was slightly lower at 3.94.

Of course, to put that overperformance in even better context, Sesko also strongly outperformed any player in an Arsenal shirt in that regard too – demonstrating his rich finishing ability.

Leandro Trossard’s xG numbers also prove his worth to Arsenal

Arsenal’s biggest overperformance in that regard in the Premier League was actually Declan Rice who scored seven goals at an xG difference of 3.21.

Leandro Trossard was then slightly behind the England international, scoring 12 goals but outperforming his xG by 3.08.

And whilst these numbers clearly demonstrate why Arsenal fans should be excited about the possibility of Sesko arriving, they perhaps also tell a story about Trossard’s worth to Arteta’s team.

The Belgian displaced Gabriel Martinelli in the final months of the season and could start alongside Sesko should he arrive this summer.

Perhaps Trossard is now the most ‘underrated’ member of this Arsenal team, a title he probably won’t mind.

But either way, it’s clear why Arsenal are interested in Sesko, an ‘extremely quick’ finisher who can add a new dimension to Arteta’s team, whilst continuing to improve his own game.

All that being said, Arsenal could have a brilliant opportunity to add a defender who could transform Arteta’s back line this summer.