Man Utd make final Sesko and Watkins decision as transfer 'accelerates'

Benjamin Sesko has moved above Ollie Watkins in Manchester United's pecking order as they look to add the RB Leipzig striker to their squad ahead of the new season

Benjamin Sesko has moved to the top of Manchester United's wish-list as they look to add the striker to their ranks. The Red Devils have already signed Matheus Cunha from Wolves and Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo, but Ruben Amorim is open to adding more firepower to his side following the club’s dire 2024/25 campaign.

The highly rated Sesko looks set to move on after Leipzig missed out on Champions League football. United will be absent from European football completely this season, but that is not thought to have put the Slovenian off.

Sesko is reportedly favouring a move to Old Trafford over Newcastle, who are also in the market for a top forward, with Liverpool-linked Alexander Isak angling for a move away from Tyneside. According to The Athletic, Sesko is Man United’s priority if they go for another striker this summer and they are said to have made ‘informal’ contact with Leipzig.

The Red Devils are also admirers of Ollie Watkins, but are unwilling to meet Aston Villa's £60m valuation of the 29-year-old England star. A move for Sesko now appeared to be the preferred and more likely option, with United also favouring his youth and potential over a proven quality like Watkins.

United have been linked with Sesko in the past, but they balked at paying around £2m for the then-16-year-old in 2019. There were subsequent approaches in 2022 and last year before the club signed Joshua Zirkzee. Sesko will now cost many times more after emerging as one of the most promising strikers in Europe, scoring 39 goals in 87 appearances for Leipzig since his arrival in 2023.

His current contract runs until 2029, having only signed a new deal last year. It reportedly came with an understanding that he would be allowed to depart if another club offered in the region of £69m to £78m.

United’s arrivals will need to be offset by some outgoings, with several players declaring their desire to leave the club. Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia were left out of the tour of the United States, with the so-called 'bomb squad' training at the club’s Carrington complex. Marcus Rashford has joined Barcelona on loan.

United’s transfer dealings have been widely criticised in recent seasons but Amorim has said chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Jason Wilcox would not be taken advantage of just to get rid of those surplus to requirements.

“Some players have to find a new place to have more space in the team and others clearly show they want a new challenge and want new teams,” said Amorim last week.

“We are just allowing these players to have time to think and to decide. If we reach a point where they have to join the team, they will join the team because they are our players.

“I know for a fact that these people, Omar and Jason, and the club have a number (price) for these players. If they don’t reach that, they will be Manchester United players, no doubt about that.