Manchester United have agreed a £73.3m deal with RB Leipzig to sign Benjamin Sesko. The striker will join on a five-year deal and become Ruben Amorim’s fourth summer signing.
Newcastle had battled Manchester United for the striker and offered a similar package to the German club but Sesko preferred a move to Old Trafford.
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United will pay an initial £66.3m and the rest in potential add-ons for the 22-year-old, who scored 13 times in the Bundesliga last season. Sesko will travel to Manchester and undergo a medical before finalising the move.
The arrival of Sesko will take United’s spending to a possible £214m, after the signings of Matheus Cunha, Diego León and Bryan Mbeumo. Sesko will be an integral part of Amorim’s front three, along with Cunha and Mbeumo, as United aim to improve on their 44 goals from 38 league games last season.
It will be the first time Sesko has played professionally outside the Red Bull group of clubs. He moved to RB Salzburg as a teenager from his native Slovenia, where was playing for Domzale. An immediate loan to Liefering, Salzburg’s reserve team in the second tier, was highly beneficial and he spent two seasons, scoring 22 goals in 44 appearances.
Salzburg gave the imposing Sesko his Austrian Bundesliga debut in January 2021 and two and a half years of impressive goalscoring form resulted in the natural move to Leipzig. Sesko won three titles during in Austria – though he made meaningful contributions only to the second and third – and became a Champions League regular, netting six times in 28 appearances in the competition.
The 6ft 5in Sesko, who has 41 caps, is aggressive in the air but also offers pace and clinical finishing. He is not the finished article but has shown great potential and Amorim will be eager to mould him into the striker he desires after watching the struggles of Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee.
United could still move for a central midfielder but sales will be important after the heavy spending. The arrival of Sesko will throw the future of Højlund into doubt. United are open to selling or loaning the striker, although they would want his wages covered and a fee paid for the latter. The club are still trying to offload Antony, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and Tyrell Malacia.
