Benjamin Sesko sends Arsenal two-word message as Viktor Gyokeres transfer promise revealed

Benjamin Sesko has been working hard to stay fit during the off-season. The RB Leipzig striker continues to be heavily linked with a move to Arsenal as Mikel Arteta looks to get his hands on a new striker.

Sesko, whose contract at the Red Bull Arena expires in June 2029, featured 33 times in the Bundesliga this season, scoring 13 goals and providing five assists. Despite his best efforts, the German outfit failed to qualify for either of UEFA's three club competitions.

With Leipzig set to miss out on significant prize money, they could be forced to cash in on the Slovenian international. football.london understands that Arsenal remain interested in signing Sesko, even if his stock has fallen a little following an underwhelming season.

The Gunners wanted to secure the 22-year-old's signature last year, but the talks never reached an advanced stage. He was keen to resolve his future at Leipzig before Euro 2024, but the north Londoners couldn't commit to a deal with Eddie Nketiah still at the club.

By the time the Hale End graduate eventually left, Sesko had already penned a contract extension at the Red Bull Arena. Despite missing out, football.london understands that Arsenal continued to monitor his progress.

Rather than sweat over his future, the Slovenian has been working hard to stay fit ahead of the new season. On Monday evening, Sesko uploaded a video of himself to his Instagram story, which he captioned: "Night run."

It's not the first time that the Leipzig striker has documented his off-season fitness routine this summer. Last month, he was peddling away on an exercise bike in what looked to be a home gym.

While Sesko has been enjoying his break, Elivis Basanovic has been working hard to quash rumours of an exit from Leipzig. In an interview with GiveMeSport last month, the striker's agent said: "Even if there may be - or will be - a strong desire of the player to move to a certain club, we will never force or blackmail RB Leipzig.

"I believe this is not the right way, because the way you actually exit from the club shows your values. Values that you are bringing into a new club.

"I can understand in very big transfers, there are a lot of different interests but no matter what, I believe a football world should be more respect. So that's why we do things in the right way or we don't do them. It's very simple, even maybe in the media it looks very complicated."

Meanwhile, Viktor Gyokeres appears to have fallen out with the Sporting CP president over a potential transfer to the Premier League. In an interview with Portuguese newspaper O Jogo on Sunday, Frederico Varandas commented on the Swede's price tag.

"Today I think there is a strong probability that he will leave," said the 45-year-old. "In these last few weeks of the market, we have been attentive, and I saw a player, [Martin] Zubimendi, who is six months younger than Viktor, leave for 65 million euros.

"I saw Matheus Cunha and [Bryan] Mbeumo, both forwards, but who do not have Viktor's market value or his quality, in my opinion, and are being negotiated for values in the order of 75 million euros.

"We are talking about players with 26 years old. Given the demands that we consider to be fair value, I believe that Viktor can leave, unless he has the worst agent in the world, which I find hard to believe, because he is one of the best footballers in the world."]

Varandas added: "I won't say what the amount is, it was communicated to the agent, the player knows. I can guarantee, with absolute certainty, that Viktor will not leave for 60+10 million euros.

"It's not about wanting to earn something, it's just that he won't leave, absolutely not..."