Man Utd and Arsenal sent clear Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres message after £46m deal

Dean Saunders believes Arsenal and Manchester United may have overlooked an opportunity by not "taking a gamble" on Darwin Nunez rather than chasing deals for Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko this summer. Numerous Premier League sides, including the Gunners and United, have spent the summer hunting for a fresh No. 9.

Arsenal beat their rivals to the signing of Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon in a deal potentially worth £63.5million. Meanwhile, United are now on the brink of finalising the arrival of Sesko after reaching an agreement in principle with RB Leipzig. As per The Athletic, Leipzig have given Sesko permission to travel to Manchester for a medical after striking a deal worth an initial £66.4million plus £7.4m in add-ons.

Nunez is on the cusp of leaving Liverpool too following a campaign where he netted just five times in the Premier League. The Uruguay international is set to relocate to the Saudi Pro League with Al-Hilal and is currently awaiting a medical before finalising his £46m transfer.

However, Saunders has questioned why Liverpool's domestic competitors opted against pursuing a move for the forward, potentially saving themselves a fair chunk of money. That's despite both Gyokeres and Sesko boasting superior goalscoring records for their clubs last season.

"Nunez, he's up for grabs. Would you rather not have Nunez than Sesko and Gyokeres," the former Aston Villa striker said on talkSPORT. "They paid a lot of money for them, and I thought, 'He's up for grabs.' I would take a chance on him.

"He's got every finish in his locker, both feet, headers, he's gone round the keeper, he's slotted the keeper, he's chipped the keeper, he's scored from distance. We've seen him do every finish, but somehow he manages to conjure up a miss - I don't know how many times he hit the post and the crossbar last season.

"There's definitely a player in there, you look at him and think, 'What a handful he is to play against.' He scored a lot of goals for Benfica in his second season. I wouldn't be surprised if Nunez goes somewhere else and scores 20 goals next season. You might get him on the cheap, you wouldn't pay £90m for him, but you might get him for £40m."

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With Nunez soon to leave Anfield, Liverpool are anticipated to bring in a replacement before the transfer window closes next month. Alexander Isak remains their top target, however, Newcastle are reluctant to part with their star striker and it's believed Liverpool would need to fork out up to £150m to lure the Swedish ace to Merseyside.