Despite having singed two attacking players in Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, Manchester United’s quest for another seems to be on, as they are reportedly fighting Newcastle United for the signature of RB Leipzig’s striker, Benjamin Sesko.
The Red Devils already have Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee as their options upfront. However, neither of them has done enough to inspire confidence among the club faithful. Hence, United have continued their vigil for another forward. Ollie Watkins, the Aston Villa striker, is already on United’s radar, but it seems that the club will prefer to sign Sesko to Watkins at the moment.
Benjamin Sesko Is Another Bundesliga Player Who Has Caught the Eyes
Premier League has been flooded with signings from Bundesliga this season. The likes of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong have been signed by Liverpool from the German first division. Not to mention that Manchester City had signed Omar Marmoush earlier this year.
Benjamin Sesko could very well be an addition to that ever-growing list. The 22-year-old Slovenian has scored 39 goals in 87 matches in his two seasons with Leipzig so far. He is six feet four inches tall and quite a physical specimen, who has every chance to succeed in Premier League.
Hojlund and Zirkzee have scored only 33 goals between them in a combined total of 144 appearances for Manchester United. That is not a good enough return for a top club. United have been playing with a 3-4-2-1 formation mostly, with Hojlund staying upfront and Zirkzee playing as one of the two players behind him.
United have Amad Diallo, who can play behind the striker as well. However, unless they do not have a clinical striker upfront, who can score goals at a good enough rate, they cannot be really competitive in the Premier League.
Finishing 15th in the league table, just as they did last season, cannot be acceptable at all, given Manchester United’s stature as a club. The Red Devils are not going to play European football next season either, which means that the attraction to play for them will be less.
Newcastle United Are Chasing Sesko as Well
Newcastle, who finished fifth in the Premier League and won the EFL Cup last season, are also reportedly behind Sesko. Alexander Isak, Newcastle’s first-choice striker, is already on the radar of Liverpool, the English champions.
The Magpies are going to play in UEFA Champions League next season, which means that Sesko will have the added attraction of playing in Europe’s premier competition if he decides to sign for them.
The Slovenian striker is going to cost around 70 million GBP to the club that manages to sign him ultimately. That is a reasonable price for a decent striker these days, as the signings of Viktor Gyokeres and Ekitike have demonstrated to us.
However, should Manchester United manage to get Sesko, they will probably be tempted to think about Hojlund’s future at the club. They might also be thinking about selling Hojlund to earn some revenue in those circumstances to boost their balance-sheet a bit.
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