Arsenal offered deal to sign £31m-rated Watkins alternative, he's better than Sesko

Despite their undeniable need for attacking reinforcements, the Gunners are yet to make a single signing, even though they have been constantly linked to a plethora of brilliant forward players.

Arguably, the most prominent link of all this month has been to RB Leipzig's tremendously exciting Benjamin Šeško, who was also a prime target for the club back in the summer.
Sesko-Leipzig
However, recent reports have now touted another centre-forward for a move to the Emirates ahead of next week's deadline, a striker who has been even better than the Slovenian this season.

Arsenal still trying for a new striker
Incredible news emerged on Wednesday evening that Arsenal had lodged a late bid to bring Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins to the club. That said, any move is now virtually impossible due to Jhon Duran's impending move to Saudi Arabia so the Gunners will have to look at alternatives in the final third.

Aston-Villa-Ollie-Watkins-Ipswich
Well, according to a recent report from journalist Graeme Bailey, Arsenal are, in fact, still keen on signing an attacking player this window and have now been offered a few potential options.

Among those options is Fiorentina star and former Everton striker Moise Kean, who has been enjoying a stellar campaign with La Viola this year.

The report does not mention how much the £51k-per-week poacher might cost the Gunners this month, but Football Transfers' valuation of up to €37m, which is about £31m, doesn't seem too unreasonable.

Moise Kean fbref stats
It might not be a signing that excites the fans in the same way that Šeško would, but based on Kean's sensational form this season, he looks like he could be a smarter signing this month.

How Kean compares to Šeško
So, if Arsenal's choice for a new centre-forward in the closing days of the transfer window is between Šeško and Kean, who should the club go for?

Benjamin Sesko scores for Slovenia
Well, if we were to compare their raw output from this season, which is ultimately the most important metric of all for a striker, then it may surprise some to hear that it is, in fact, the former Toffees flop who comes out on top.

For example, in just 26 appearances, totalling 2019 minutes, the "fearless" sharpshooter, as dubbed by Thomas Tuchel, has scored 16 goals and provided two assists to boot, which comes to an average of a goal involvement every 1.44 games, or every 112.16 minutes.

In contrast, the former RB Salzburg star has found the back of the net on 14 occasions and provided three assists in 27 appearances, totalling 1948 minutes, which is still impressive but results in a worse average of a goal involvement every 1.58 games, or every 114.58 minutes.

Unfortunately for the Radeče-born goal machine, the comparison remains heavily in the Italian's favour when we take a look under the hood at the underlying numbers from the season so far.

Kean vs Šeško

Statistics

Kean

Šeško

Non-Penalty Expected G+As

0.64

0.38

Progressive Passes

1.08

1.83

Shots

3.46

2.25

Shots on Target

1.35

1.27

Passing Accuracy

70.8%

69.5%

Key Passes

0.70

0.49

Shot-Creating Actions

2.05

1.69

Goal-Creating Actions

0.16

0.16

Successful Take-Ons

1.62

1.41

Aerial Duels Won

1.73

2.54

All Stats via FBref for the 24/25 League Season

For example, the former Juventus gem comes out on top in the majority of relevant metrics, including, but not limited to, non-penalty expected goals plus assists, progressive passes received, shots and shots on target, passing accuracy and key passes, shot-creating actions, successful take-ons and more, all per 90.

Ultimately, while Šeško is undoubtedly the player with more excitement around him at the moment, it's Kean who is performing better, and in a league that Opta Analyst categorised as more challenging than the Bundesliga only last year.

Therefore, Arsenal should do what they can to bring him to the Emirates before the window shuts next week, as he looks to have developed into a sensational striker.

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