Goals were painfully hard to come by for Manchester United last season as the club limped over the line for a historically bad 15th-placed Premier League finish.
The Red Devils have taken huge steps to improve their firepower, with Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo joining from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford respectively.
But in front of Ruben Amorim’s prolific new pair of number 10s there is still a vacancy at centre-forward, after Rasmus Hojlund’s disappointing campaign ended with only four league goals and Joshua Zirkzee showed himself not to be a number 9 after all.
A range of options
United have already spent over £130m on Cunha and Mbeumo, so it is widely believed that the calibre of any new striker depends on player sales.
To that end, the club have been linked with everyone from free agents such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin to top-dollar Premier League talent like Ollie Watkins.
Outside of the English top flight Al-Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic has emerged as a more budget friendly target, but the strongest links are to RB Leipzig’s young superstar Benjamin Sesko.
United in talks
Sesko, who seemed destined for Arsenal before the Gunners turned their attention to Viktor Gyokeres, is one of the few premium names left on the market. His rumoured £70m price tag reflects this, and makes him a difficult option for United.
But according to Florian Plettenberg from Sky Sport in Germany, the Red Devils are “in talks” with the player’s management and have gone so far as to “present” a financial offer.
However Newcastle United, still reeling from the revelation that star man Alexander Isak wants to leave St James’ Park, are pushing the hardest for Sesko so any transfer race will be difficult to win.
Ultimately, Plettenberg says, “the decision now lies with the player and his camp” which could be good news for the Old Trafford outfit given reports from last week that Sesko prefers a move to United.
Plettenberg claims that “offers are expected to be formally submitted to RB Leipzig following the verbal agreement”, suggesting things are gathering pace in the Red Devils’ pursuit of the towering Slovenian.
🚨🆕 Manchester United and Newcastle are currently in talks with Benjamin #Sesko‘s management.
Both teams have presented their projects and financial offers. #MUFC
The decision now lies mainly with the player and his camp. Offers are expected to be formally submitted to RB… pic.twitter.com/OEPsIv3goY
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) July 28, 2025
It’s hard to see how United would be able to move forward with a transfer for the 22-year-old right now, with the likes of Antony, Jadon Sancho and Alejandro Garnacho all yet to be sold.
But it’s exciting to see the club still pushing for big names to solve problem positions, and with Antony thought to be a £50m target for Al-Nassr things may be about to click into place for the Red Devils.
In the last few minutes, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that United have “approached his camp to ask for deal conditions”, so it certainly seems that there is some interest despite the tricky circumstances.
🚨 Key week for Benjamin Šeško’s future as Manchester United also approached his camp to ask for deal conditions.
Newcastle presented their project to Šeško last week, ready to bid if player accepts.
Šeško, expected to decide his future soon.
🎥 https://t.co/WhHTK6wlhM pic.twitter.com/Q6F6Pybwdi
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 28, 2025
Featured image Maja Hitij via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
