Transfer Secret History | Zhekelais "realizes his dream" Arsenal

When the "white smoke" for Arsenal's transfer negotiations rose, the name that emerged was Victor Zhekelais. Before the transfer window opened, head coach Mikel Arteta and sports director Andrea Berta regarded the No. 9 as the most critical signing task for the North London club.

After several months of speculation about Zhekeray, Benjamin Sesco, Oli Watkins and others, Arsenal's waiting for a new striker has finally ended - the team's core needs have been met. The 27-year-old has been transferred from Portugal Sports with a fixed transfer fee of €63.5 million and a potential floating clause of €10 million. The two sides have signed a five-year contract.

Arsenal firmly believes that they are signing a player who is ready and determined to create an impact immediately. He is the striker born for the moment: the club believes he can become a key figure in changing the situation this season.

A year ago, almost no one expected this result. Before Berta took office in March, Dzekelish was not a key figure on Arsenal's signing list.

With his goal performance in Portugal Sports, the player who now has 26 appearances in the Swedish national team has indeed entered the field of Arsenal. But in the evaluation of Berta's predecessor Edu and his recruitment team, Dzekelish was classified as a secondary player - perhaps a complement to Kay Havertz, but may not necessarily surpass the German player. His physical condition and ending ability are unquestionable, but in Arteta's tactical system, he does not seem to be an ideal adapter.

At that time, Arsenal's preferred target was Sesco of Red Bull Leipzig - the club had discussed the deal in the summer of 2024 and planned to restart negotiations this year. In March, Edu's interim successor, Jason Eto, was planning to travel to Germany to push the deal forward. It seemed that Arsenal's summer would revolve around Sesco.

However, at the end of that month, Berta's takeover changed this dynamic.

Eto's trip to Germany was put on hold, and the name of Zhekelais quickly entered the core discussion. Berta has long admired the player, believing he can be a key striker to help Arsenal end his five-year championship-free situation.

Arsenal, with the support of his boss, decided to temporarily put aside his personal preferences and explore the possibility of two deals at the same time. In this way, they can discuss and weigh the values of the two based on sufficient information.

Over the past 18 months, Cesco's team has established a solid relationship with Edu and Eto, laying the foundation for players to potentially join the Emirates Stadium.

But after Berta took office, the relationship between the two sides became different - although the Sesco team still believes the 22-year-old Slovenian is Arsenal's first choice, the agent also fears personnel changes could endanger the transfer.

Cesco's agent team is also unwilling to make a promise too early. They didn't want to turn off other options and took a tough stance in negotiations with Arsenal - which has not received a positive response in North London.

Nevertheless, constructive communication with Sesco's agent Elvis Basanovic continues - Basanovic is also invited to watch Arsenal's last home game against Newcastle United in the season.

Arsenal and Berta have indeed discussed the possibility of signing Cesco - they have had a long negotiation with the players' team, and Leipzig also knows their interests. The German club hopes to reach a deal as soon as possible to clarify the team's plan and help accelerate reconstruction after only winning seventh place in the Bundesliga last season.

Cesco's age and potential are quite attractive to Arsenal. The club has conducted a lot of background checks on him and has tracked his growth trajectory for many years. For the boss, it is quite tempting to sign a young player who has room for improvement and can increase his value during his time in office.

, but the negotiations are progressing limited. In Arsenal's view, Leipzig's asking price, Sesco's salary expectations and related commissions are too expensive for a player who still needs to be trained. Cesco's potential is unquestionable, but Arsenal needs players who can play immediately at this stage.

German sources involved in the potential deal said that even if Arsenal believes the offer is too high, it is only part of the standard negotiation process, and there is still room for flexible adjustments and room for further communication. But Arsenal's negotiations failed to make substantial progress - it was difficult for them to establish a good communication and tacit understanding between them and Basanovic. Later when the focus turned to Tzekelish, the Sesco team made a concession—but it might have been too late.

Meanwhile, Dzekelish began to have a significant attraction to Arsenal's top leaders.

He turned 27 in June this year, with both experience and stable goal-scoring ability. He has had English League experience: he joined Brighton at the age of 19 in 2018, and was then loaned to Swansea and Coventry, and eventually transferred to Coventry forever. As Arsenal is looking for a key puzzle that will transform the team from contenders to champions, he looks like the one who can make the difference right away.

Another factor is that Dzekelish believes he has reached an agreement with Portugal Sports - he can leave the team this summer with a fixed fee of 60 million euros plus a floating clause, which is far less than his 100 million euro termination fee. Berta began to explore the specific conditions of the deal.

But Arteta still needs to be convinced.

The coach's preferences continue to evolve throughout Arsenal's search for a striker.

He has always admired Alexander Isaac, but after helping Newcastle secure the Champions League qualification for next season, Arsenal believes signing him is unrealistic. By the end of July, when Isaac made it clear that he wanted to leave Newcastle, Arsenal had set other plans.

In January this year, Arteta fully supported the club to chase Watkins, but the team was unwilling to meet Aston Villa's £60 million asking price. Although the club has reached a consensus that this is the most favorable deal for Arsenal, Tzekelish is the one he highly recommends. The new sports director has left his mark on his signings this summer.

Now, it's Zhekelais' turn to leave his mark on the court.