Benjamin Sesko has broken his silence after VfB Stuttgart knocked RB Leipzig out of the DFB Pokal. The 21-year-old striker has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal for a while now as .

Sesko, who sees his contract at the Red Bull Arena expire in June 2029, played a starring role for Marco Rose's side in the DFB Pokal this season. The Slovenia international found the net in each of his four appearances en route to the Olympiastadion in Berlin – .

But, despite his best efforts on Wednesday night, RB Leipzig crashed out of the competition, . Sesko pulled one back for Die Roten Bullen on the hour mark, but it wasn't enough to secure a place in the final against Arminia Bielefeld.

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After the game, Sesko marked the heartbreaking defeat with an emotional post on . He said: "Seasons can be hard… but . [fist bump emoji] We focus on @bundesliga now. Never give up."

Sesko looked set to join Arsenal back in summer before deciding to extend his stay at RB Leipzig. football.london understands that , but talks never reached an advanced stage.

He wanted to resolve his future before Euro 2024 and Arsenal couldn't commit, with Eddie Nketiah still at the club. Despite missing out, football.london understands that and they remain interested in securing his signature.

football.london also understands that during the January transfer window, but . It's said that all options regarding a potential deal with RB Leipzig were explored, but the Bundesliga club refused to let their go.

In the new year, Elvis Basanovic was asked if his client has what it takes to play for Arsenal. Speaking on , Sesko's agent said: "I think you should ask Mr. Arteta about that.

"But I think Sesko could suit many clubs because he has different football skills. He can play alone in attack, with two strikers, a little further back, he has height, speed, technical speed."

Basanovic then added: "Benjamin Sesko is really shining, I think this is a phase of development. I think we have already shown in the past that we are sticking to the development path, that we are not looking at current form.

"Our decision regarding the next step, the transfer, has never and will not stem from current form, but from who can offer Sesko the best platform for his development. We can see that our decision was correct, six months later he is already a better striker than he was last season.

"What he lacks is experience. We must not forget that he is only 21 years old, so we did not want him to go to the Premier League in the summer. There were concrete options, but we consciously decided to stay in the Bundesliga to give him time to progress and develop into a better striker."