Man Utd use secret weapon in Sesko transfer after learning from Haaland snub

Manchester United have beaten competition from Newcastle to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig after relying on the expertise and relationships of one of their staff

Benjamin Sesko has made the leap from RB Leipzig to Manchester United in a £74million transfer – and there will be one familiar face at Old Trafford.

Sesko has snubbed a move to Newcastle in favour of joining United, who have paid £66.4m up front plus a further £7.6m in potential add-ons. The 22-year-old striker will slot into Ruben Amorim’s new-look front line, alongside fellow new signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.

United’s press release announcing the capture of Sesko makes it clear how delighted they are to land the Slovenia international in what they view as a coup, given their lack of European football this season.

“The desire that all of our new signings have shown to join the club this summer highlights the appeal and stature of Manchester United,” said director of football Jason Wilcox.

That may well be true, but Wilcox also has one of his colleagues to thank after landing Sesko from under Newcastle’s nose. Christopher Vivell was instrumental in getting the deal over the line, thanks in large part to his connections with Sesko and his agent Elvis Basanovic.

Vivell only joined United last summer, initially as an interim director of recruitment, but by February he had secured the role permanently. Omar Berrada, who joined the club from Manchester City last summer to become chief executive, had pushed for Vivell’s arrival, having got on well with him in their previous roles.

The 38-year-old German left Chelsea under a cloud in July 2023, just seven months after arriving as technical director. But Berrada and United were not fazed and brought him in. They are now seeing the fruits of that decision.

Vivell has a good reputation in Germany, where he began at Hoffenheim before joining the Red Bull Group. That is where he encountered Sesko, signing him for Red Bull Salzburg initially before bringing him to sister club Leipzig in 2023.

Sesko scored 39 goals in 87 games for Leipzig, attracting plenty of Premier League attention, including from Arsenal. And while he cited United’s history and the project laid out by Ruben Amorim as reasons for joining, he also was encouraged by Vivell’s presence, having had only good experiences in his previous two moves involving the German.

Sesko isn’t the only highly rated young striker who Vivell has snapped up in his time, as United well know. Back in 2019, United wanted to sign Erling Haaland from Molde, having been given a recommendation by then-managed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

But they did not succeed in chasing the Norwegian superstar, who snubbed a succession of bigger clubs to join Salzburg, having been courted by Vivell. “The big clubs wanted him too,” he later explained. “But they wanted to do a loan programme, which neither his father nor Erling wanted. That’s why we managed to bring him to us.”

Vivell worked with former United manager Ralf Rangnick at Red Bull and also tried to hire Erik ten Hag for Leipzig before he left Ajax for United. Those connections are incidental compared to those with Sesko, which helped land who United hope will be the answer to their goalscoring woes.