Chelsea dealt transfer blow in pursuit of £42m-rated striker amid Arsenal preference claim

Chelsea were beaten 3-1 away at Manchester City this weekend. They took the lead at the Etihad Stadium through Noni Madueke.

Enzo Maresca’s side weren’t able to get back into the game though and left Manchester with nothing. They will now be looking to bounce back.

The Blues have the chance to sign some players before the end of the January window. They also have the opportunity to let some individuals leave.

Update on Benjamin Sesko’s links to Chelsea

RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko ‘wants’ to join Arsenal over Chelsea and Manchester United, according to talkSPORT. His situation in Germany is up in the air this winter amid attention from elsewhere and he is valued at £42million on Transfermarkt.

Sesko, who is 21-years-old, could be seen by Maresca as someone to bolster his attacking department. He has a lot of potential and would be a useful long-term addition for the London outfit.

The Slovenia international has been on the books at Leipzig since joining the Bundesliga club in 2023. He has since scored 31 goals in 67 games in all competitions for them to date, 13 of which have come in this campaign.

Sesko was snapped up as a youngster by RB Salzburg and was loaned out to FC Liefering to get some experience under his belt initially. He then broke into the first-team of the Austrian Bundesliga team and found the net on 29 occasions in 79 outings before his current club swooped in for his signature.

Leipzig could now face a battle to keep hold of him amid attention from elsewhere. A switch to England wouldn’t be a surprise and he has been linked with it for a while.

What now for Chelsea?

Chelsea need to show a reaction after their loss at Manchester City. Speaking afterwards, Maresca said: “In my opinion, we are a better team that one month ago or two months ago because in this kind of moment, these kind of games, for sure they are going to make us better because we need to live this experience.

“I said two weeks ago, from now on, we can be third, we can be fourth, fifth or sixth...the games until the end [of the season] now can change [our position] a little bit. The good thing is that we are focused and we are trying to improve game after game.”

He added: “We started the game in exactly the way we prepared. We scored the first one, we could have scored the second one in three different chances. I think, and I am completely sure, because of the mood and because of the moment, scoring the second one, the game would completely change. Unfortunately we didn't score the second one.

“The high pressing; you have to be brave in these kinds of games, knowing that if you have to press higher then you leave their best player - which is Haaland - one-v-one against your defender. But I think we dealt, for most parts of the game, quite well.

“Even the second goal we conceded, we were one-v-one with Trev [Chalobah] but there was all the time to control and manage the moment better.”