RB Leipzig make Benjamin Sesko request as Arsenal transfer talks escalate

Arsenal are showing interest in RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, who is currently away on international duty with Slovenia

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

The Gunners, who hold long-standing interest in the 22-year-old, are now beginning to step up their pursuit of the highly-rated centre-forward as Andrea Berta looks to bolster Mikel Arteta's forward line. Sesko has been nursing a knee issue, which is not thought to be serious, over the course of the past few weeks.

He only played 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 take part in training or the exhibition match.

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

It's understood that ahead of both games, Leipzig contacted the Slovenian FA to request that Sesko did not feature in either match, as the risk of injury could potentially jeopardise a transfer. Slovenia have made no promises because in their view, their star man could still prove his fitness in time for Tuesday's match against Bosnia in Celje. Sesko is set to continue his rehabilitation tomorrow and they're yet to rule out that he could yet train, though they will not push the player to feature if he is still not ready. The Gunners are viewed as strong favourites for Sesko, sporting director Berta has already held initial talks with Leipzig chief Marcel Schafer, but Chelsea and Manchester United also have the player on their shortlist and Leipzig firmly expect to sanction a sale in the coming weeks. At this stage, a deal is in the works but is not thought to be imminent.

Having missed out on European qualification, Leipzig are planning to sell both Sesko and Dutch attacking midfielder Xavi Simons to fund a much-needed rebuild. Arsenal were in the hunt for Sesko last summer prior to the European Championships in Germany but the young attacker instead decided to pen a new deal with Leipzig, however, he now wants to pursue a new challenge and would favour Champions League football. The Gunners made an enquiry in January when they were in the midst of their attacking injury crisis but were told Leipzig would not sell mid-season. Sesko is understood to be moved by the fact he has long been pursued by Arsenal, namely Arteta. Arsenal maintain interest in Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres but at this stage, Sesko appears to be their top striker target, though the situation remains fluid.