How Sesko and Watkins compare as Man Utd prepare to solve striker woes

MANCHESTER UNITED have narrowed their striker hunt down to Benjamin Sesko and Ollie Watkins — but who is the better fit at Old Trafford?

Ruben Amorim is desperate to bring in a new No.9 this summer after Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee endured woeful seasons.

In 64 combined appearances in the Premier League last term, the duo managed just seven goals.

So it is no surprise to see Man Utd keen on changing their entire frontline after the signings of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.

The Red Devils have reportedly reached out to Sesko's representatives to sell him the project, with Newcastle also keen.

And, while Man Utd have NO European football to offer, the club feel confident that the RB Leipzig man would choose Old Trafford over a Champions League campaign on Tyneside.

The only stumbling block is funds.

United are up against it financially and know the Toon will be able to comfortably match the £70million-rated goalscorer's price-tag should they lose Alexander Isak to Liverpool.

That means United also have their eye on Watkins, with Villa understood to want £60m for their main man.

But Old Trafford chiefs reckon they could sign him for closer to £45m.

Contact has been made with the entourages of both potential targets.

But the club are said to be weighing up their options ahead of launching bids.

Looking at the stats over the last two league seasons, Sesko has found the back of the net 27 times, with Watkins trumping him on 35 goals.

But the Slovenian has a higher shot conversion rate on 23.5 per cent to 18.3 per cent.

And he has a better minutes per goal record of 145 to 167.

Watkins does, however, register many more assists with 21 compared to just seven and he takes more shots.

There is very little to separate them in the air and on pressing statistics.

Sesko, 22, has age on his side and is seen as one for the future.

While cost-cutting Sir Jim Ratcliffe also knows Sesko will likely have a much higher sell-on value of the pair.

But England star Watkins, 29, is already Premier League proven and would be sure to hit the ground running, having netted 75 top flight goals since joining Villa in 2020.

He will also likely cost considerably less — although any move at all may be dependent on finding a taker for £72m flop Hojlund.

A move for Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson has been discounted after Chelsea quoted a whopping £100m asking price.

Villa have so far dismissed all suggestions of an approach and insisted Watkins is not for sale at any price.

But they did offer him to Arsenal in the January window, before performing a U-turn after selling Jhon Duran instead.

New signing Mbeumo played alongside the England striker at Brentford and hinted he would love to be reunited.

He told the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast: "Ollie is a complete striker. 

“He can do a lot of things. He can drop to be available or go in behind. 

“And that is really good for me as a winger because you can use his space to fit in there. Plus he can combine as well. It’s really good.”