Arsenal ready to accelerate Benjamin Sesko transfer plans | OneFootball

Arsenal are ready to step up their interest in RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko after losing Gabriel Jesus to injury for the rest of the season, according to reports.

Jesus suffered a torn ACL during Arsenal's FA Cup third round defeat to Manchester United, bringing to an end a promising recent run of form that had seen the Brazilian score seven goals across all competitions.

The Gunners have been extensively linked with Sesko in the past - 90min previously reported on interest as far back as April 2024 - and were a bit perturbed by the Slovenian's decision to sign a new contract with Leipzig last summer.

There was, however, a 'gentleman's agreement' put in place in terms of a future transfer, allowing Sesko to pursue a move to a bigger club if the terms were agreeable for Leipzig.

The Times report that Arsenal's timeline for a potential bid for Sesko has been pushed up because of Jesus' injury, with it now clear to manager Mikel Arteta that he can't solely rely on Kai Havertz for goals.

Gabriel Jesus hurt his knee in this clash with Bruno Fernandes / Alex Pantling/GettyImages

Arteta has been rocked in recent weeks by an injury to star player Bukayo Saka, which has blunted Arsenal's creativity and taking of chances, and the England international isn't expected to return from his hamstring issue for a number of weeks.

Sesko's agent, Elvis Basanovic, has ruled out the possibility of a loan move to Arsenal, meaning the Gunners will have to stump up a significant fee if they want to get a deal over the line in January.

Leipzig manager Marco Rose has also quashed talk of a January exit, telling German media: "That's not the case, not the topic for us."

21-year-old Sesko has scored eight goals in 17 Bundesliga appearances this season, adding a further five in domestic cup and Champions League competition to take his season tally to 13 - one more than Havertz has managed for Arsenal.