Benjamin Sesko has already agreed to join Arsenal, giving the Gunners new incentive to push the transfer forward.
As Mirror Football's John Cross reported last May, the RB Leipzig striker is in favor of a move to Mikel Arteta's side ahead of other Premier League clubs such as Manchester United and Chelsea, while there has also been interest from clubs in Italy .
The Gunners targeted Sesko last summer, but the Slovenian striker decided to stay at RB Leipzig for one more season. The 21-year-old negotiated a £60 million 'gentleman's agreement' that would see him leave in the summer of 2025.
The German club plans to stick to that arrangement – unless a club makes a big offer in January. One new side interested in Sesko is Barcelona, although their financial constraints will be a hurdle for the Catalans to overcome.
But it is understood Arsenal will face extra competition for the highly-rated striker if they wait until the summer, meaning their deadline to complete a deal has been shortened. The Gunners have been exploring whether they can land one of their summer targets early, and they remain interested in Athletic Bilbao's Nico Williams. Williams' wage demands are in excess of £300,000 a week and have proven to be a stumbling block.
They also looked at players such as Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic and Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres. If they can bring in a striker this month it would also help offset an injury crisis that has seen Bukayo Saka sidelined with a hamstring tear and Gabriel Jesus suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Gunners boss Arteta spoke during his press conference about increasing his attacking options ahead of Saturday's 5.30pm kick-off against Aston Villa.
“We don't have that at the moment. We are, as I said, actively trying to find the best possible solution. But we will have to wait and see what we can do,” said Arteta.
“It's clear [the profile of player] is not something I'm going to discuss here. For us, we have lost two big players on the front line and we need some support.”
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