Arsenal facing £10m criticism of Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres hunts despite clear strategy

Sporting CP and RB Leipzig are, for now, standing firm on their valuations of Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko, respectively. While Arsenal remain keen on both players, the Gunners are keen not to overspend on a striker target who has a reasonable number of doubts and drawbacks alongside their obvious plusses.

Suggestions that there could be a £10million-plus difference in the clubs’ valuations and expectations of the deals have seen discussions drag on, with June coming to a close. However, it has not distracted Arsenal from completing other business.

Martin Zubimendi and Kepa Arrizabalaga are set to be announced this week. The club are also set to complete a deal around £10million for Christian Norgaard while a new bid is expected close to around £20million for Cristhian Mosquera.

These latter deals have been somewhat used as a stick to beat the club with in regard to the striker situation. Fans have questions why the team are willing to drop close to £30million on Norgaard and Mosquera, but so far seem unwilling to go the extra mile for Gyokeres or Sesko and instead hold out, delay and be patient for a lower fee that is not necessarily guaranteed.

The answer is two-fold. Firstly, the complaint of this Arsenal side has, for some time, been that the squad is short and that injuries in multiple positions have certainly curtailed hopes of winning major trophies because those who deputise are either playing out of position or simply not of the requisite level.

Should Arsenal compromise by moving early for a striker, paying more in the process, it could very well limit their ability to sign players in other areas of need. Instead, by playing the long game, negotiating and hoping to reduce the asking price, Arsenal give themselves a better opportunity to tick all their boxes, maybe even opening up more depending on the deal they achieve.

Arsenal have already secured some excellent cheap deals for quality additions this summer, betting on more would not be a bad idea. The club are understood to want to work comfortably within UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules and therefore have taken this approach.

The second is that overspending on a centre-forward weakens Arsenal's negotiating position in the market. Spending big on players sends a strong message that Arsenal will indeed cave to clubs' asking prices, and this is not a desirable position to be in.

Instead, especially with this being Andrea Berta’s first summer as sporting director, it is vital for him to set the stall from the get-go and instil principles to his peers. Arsenal’s reputation in the market had been damaged after years of poorer moves, overinflated wages and in some case fees, that must change and so asking for Arsenal to go beyond what they deem fair for a player could do harm from good – especially for players like Gyokeres and Sesko who themselves have associated doubts attached to them.

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