I want a bagman this summer. We know what we have in Havertz - an all around forward who will elevate and enable our wingers and midfielders. Merino can clearly provide a good deal of that as well in emergencies, while Trossard and Jesus (when fit in the second half of 25/26) can also play a non-traditional 9.
What we don't have is a player who is going to selfishly look to score as many goals as possible, make those runs where 9/10 runs they don't get the ball but take a chance on the 10% that the ball gets to them, and take a few optimistic cracks at net when the opportunity is there. I feel like Sesko has all of the tools to be that player but I just don't know if he's that selfish bastard who lives to score goals. He seems like he just doesn't have that alpha predator mentality that most of the great goal scorers have and I don't think that can really get coached. While I share the concerns of many about the competition level that Gyokeres has played against and his older age profile, he's a volume goalscorer who strikes through the ball with ferocity every chance he gets and is always looking to score. Physically, I don't think he will have any issue with the EPL and while he likely won't be the expansive dream 9 that someone like Isak or potentially Ekitike could be, his job would be simple - lead the press, be a great outlet, make runs in behind the defense and score chances when they fall to him. He definitely doesn't have the ceiling that guys like Sesko and Ekitike have but I also don't think those guys would be scoring anywhere near the amount of goals he is, even in the Portuguese League. Gyokeres is also outscoring Isak by a large margin in the Swedish national team FYI (9g/4a vs 4g/1a in Nations League qualifying).
If this was 2-3 years ago as our project was just ascending, I'd be all for getting the younger prospect to grow with the team. However, I feel like next year is our year to really stack trophies and I want the player who is in his prime to add to the team - Isak would be ideal but I don't think Gyokeres is a bad consolation prize and it would allow us to strengthen additional areas of the team instead of likely spending 3x as much on one player. He'd offer a much different profile than Havertz, who still might be our #1 option, but can also play alongside him like he does with Isak for Sweden. I also like the approach of adding top talent this summer with different profiles than our current squad to provide a lot of flexibility with rotation and tactics next year. More ingredients in the stew and Arteta will cook!
