Forget Benjamin Sesko - Five smarter striker options for Arsenal to sign this summer

23.06.2025 - 13:01 | source: Transfermarkt | Reading Time: 6 mins

Alternative goalscorers

Forget Benjamin Sesko - Five smarter striker options for Arsenal to sign this summer

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Arsenal's race to sign a new striker this summer has seemingly hit a snag, with reports in England stating that the club's main transfer target Benjamin Sesko is making a move to North London increasingly unlikely. According to the Mirror, the Slovenian international is making wage demands that Arsenal are simply unwilling to match and as a result the Premier League giants could look elsewhere for a new forward in the coming months.

Rumour B. Sesko Centre-Forward RB Leipzig ? Arsenal Bundesliga Premier League

Mikel Arteta's squad has been in desperate need of a new striker for some time now. The previous season saw the club perform admirably well in domestic and European competitions, but ultimately came up short in both due to a lack of firepower. Due to injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, the Spanish tactician was forced to play Mikel Merino as a lone striker for a number of games. And the club will be desperate to avoid a similar situation next season. So if Sesko is no longer a viable option for Arsenal, who else could they consider signing to plug the notable gap up front?

Stats C. Harder Centre-Forward Sporting CP Season 24/25 –

Liga Portugal Games 28 Goals 5 Assists 5

Conrad Harder - Sporting

For example, while the club have been heavily linked with a move for Viktor Gyökeres alongside Sesko, it seems more than likely that Sporting would demand a transfer fee that approaches the €100 million mark for the 26-year-old striker. Instead, Arsenal may be better suited taking a look at Gyökeres’ strike partner Conrad Harder. Six years Gyökeres’ junior, Harder’s market value stands at just €24m and would likely cost considerably less than his Scandinavian counterpart. Quick, strong and with a ferocious shot on him, Harder has taken to Portuguese football like a duck to water, bagging 13 goals and 10 assists in 54 appearances for the club. That, interestingly enough, works out at a remarkable 0.97 goals and assists per 90 for Sporting in his first season for the club and while it’s not quite as impressive as Gyökeres (1.46 per 90), it’s still a figure that should get Arsenal’s fans very exciting about this young forward’s potential.

Stats E. Guessand Centre-Forward OGC Nice Season 24/25 –

Ligue 1 Games 33 Goals 12 Assists 9

Evann Guessand - Nice

Another relatively unknown forward that Arsenal could perhaps pounce on this summer is Nice forward Evann Guessand. With a market value of €25m, the 23-year-old talent is also a far cry from the eye-watering sums required to sign players like Sesko, but could prove to become an exceptional goalscorer. After impressive loan spells at Lausanne-Sport and Nantes, Guessand returned to Nice this season and has quickly established himself as a key player, bagging 12 goals and nine assists in all competitions with an impressive return of 0.64 goals and assists per 90 minutes. Guessand represented France at every youth level - before declaring his senior international career to Ivory Coast last year - and when coupled with his rise at Nice the young player has already garnered attention from a number of other Premier League clubs, such as West Ham, Aston Villa and Newcastle. Standing tall at 1.88m (6 ft 2 in), Guessand could be the target man Arterta’s side have been crying out for for much of this season.

Stats S. Castro Centre-Forward Bologna FC 1909 Season 24/25 –

Serie A Games 36 Goals 8 Assists 5

Santiago Castro - Bologna

Next on our list is another young striker that is making waves in his first serious season in Europe’s top five leagues. At just 20 years of age, Santiago Castro is by no means an experienced goalscorer in European football, but after joining Bologna for €12m in January of 2024 the young Argentine forward has gone from strength to strength in Italian football. Largely filling in for the void left by Joshua Zirkzee’s departure to Manchester United last summer, Castro has bagged 11 goals and nine assists in 54 appearances for the Serie A side, averaging 0.58 goals and assists per 90 in all competitions for the club. The young talent's low centre of gravity and impressive build up play has drawn clear comparisons to Inter forward Lautaro Martínez, who Castro has cited as a major influence on his game. Such are the similarities that Castro has been nicknamed “Mini Lautaro” in Italy. Arsenal may do well to swoop in for the young talent before his market value matches his compatriots at Inter.

Stats G. Ramos Centre-Forward Paris Saint-Germain Season 24/25 –

Ligue 1 Games 22 Goals 10 Assists 3

Gonçalo Ramos - Paris Saint-Germain

While Arsenal fans may be sick of the sight of PSG players, the club would do well to consider a move for one the French team’s most underappreciated forwards. Despite finally joining the Parisian side on a permanent deal last summer for €65m, Portuguese striker Gonçalo Ramos has spent much of this season at PSG sitting on the bench. This season, Ramos started around a third of the club’s games in Ligue 1 and just 6% of their games in the Champions League. As such, the 23-year-old talent may be considering his options ahead of the summer window, which is where Arsenal could likely sign the young talent for far less than PSG originally paid for him. And while he may be playing second fiddle in Enrique’s team right now, Ramos’ return of 0.98 goals and assists per 90 for the French giants is still incredibly impressive. In many ways, Ramos is exactly what Arteta’s team are missing and he could be available for a decent fee this summer.

Stats J. Burkardt Centre-Forward 1.FSV Mainz 05 Season 24/25 –

Bundesliga Games 29 Goals 18 Assists 3

Jonathan Burkardt - Mainz

The final centre forward on today’s list is Mainz goalscorer Jonathan Burkardt. Although the German international turns 25 in the summer, Burkardt’s career was somewhat put on hiatus in 2022 when a serious knee injury ruled him out for much of the 2022/23 season. The forward only began to look back to his best towards the end of last season but following a full pre-season last summer, he’s kicked on for Mainz and finally realised his potential as an excellent Bundesliga talisman. This season Burkardt has bagged 18 goals and three assists in 30 games for the German club, averaging 0.88 goals and assists per 90. In fact, the striker has scored exactly as many league goals as Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane from open play this season. And if Arsenal are looking for a competent forward without the kind of market value that the aforementioned England striker demands, Burkardt may be the perfect option for them.

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