Huge Benjamin Sesko request made as final Arsenal transfer decision looms

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RB Leipzig have asked the Slovenian Football Association to exclude Benjamin Sesko from their upcoming international friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday, in light of a potential transfer to Arsenal.

The Gunners, who have shown interest in the 22-year-old for some time, are now intensifying their pursuit of the highly-rated striker as Andrea Berta seeks to strengthen Mikel Arteta's attacking options. Sesko has been dealing with a knee problem, which is not believed to be serious, over the past few weeks.

He only featured in the final three minutes of Leipzig's last Bundesliga match of the season against Stuttgart and despite travelling to Brazil for an end-of-season friendly against Santos, he was unable to participate in training or the exhibition match.

Slovenia manager Matjaz Kek did contemplate leaving Sesko out of his squad for friendlies against Luxembourg and Bosnia but it was decided that Sesko would join the camp and then be evaluated by the team's doctors. He has still not trained and did not travel with the squad to Luxembourg for Friday's friendly match.

Ahead of both games, it's understood that Leipzig reached out to the Slovenian FA, requesting that Sesko be benched to avoid potential injury that could jeopardise a transfer. However, Slovenia have not made any guarantees as they believe their star player could prove his fitness in time for Tuesday's match against Bosnia in Celje, reports the Mirror.

Sesko is due to continue his rehabilitation at the weekend and there's no ruling out that he might train, but they won't force him to play if he's not ready. Arsenal are seen as the front-runners for Sesko, with sporting director Berta having initial discussions with Leipzig chief Marcel Schafer.

However, Chelsea and Manchester United also have the player on their radar and Leipzig are expected to approve a sale in the coming weeks. At this point, a deal is being negotiated but is not considered imminent.

Leipzig, having missed out on European qualification, are set to offload both Sesko and Dutch attacking midfielder Xavi Simons in a bid to fund a much-needed squad overhaul. Arsenal had shown interest in Sesko last summer before the European Championships in Germany, but the young forward chose to extend his contract with Leipzig.

However, he now seeks a new challenge and has a preference for Champions League football. The Gunners had approached Leipzig in January amidst their attacking injury crisis, but were informed that Sesko was not for sale mid-season.

While Arsenal still have Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres on their radar, at this point, Sesko seems to be their primary striker target, although the situation remains fluid.

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