Manchester United had scored a mere 44 goals in 38 Premier League games last season, which made it obvious where INEOS needed to invest in the summer.
Rasmus Hojlund was discarded ruthlessly, despite his desire to stay, while the club spent big to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig.
He was not always the top target for the Red Devils, with Ruben Amorim preferring a move for former Sporting CP protege, Viktor Gyokeres.
However, the Swede ended up joining rivals Arsenal for £64 million instead. Now the assistant of the 27-year-old’s agent has revealed that United had actually bid higher than the Gunners.
Why United’s Gyokeres deal failed
Jonathan Chalkias, assistant to Gyokeres’ agent Hasan Cetinkaya told Studio Allsvenskan podcast (via The Daily Mail) that Sporting had agreed a sale to the 20-time English league champions behind the Arsenal striker’s back.
And that was not accepted, with the former Coventry City ace moving to the Emirates as he had given Mikel Arteta his word.
“There were crazy amounts offered from Saudi Arabia. We’re supposed to act in our best interest. Do we have also have a percentage (of any fee)? Of course. It’s a lot of money. Maybe Viktor should respond to that some day.
“I don’t think we pressured him once to accept the offer. At the end of the day, money comes and goes and this move to Arsenal brings us a lot of marketing.
“They (Sporting) had concluded a deal with Manchester United behind our backs, that was a problem. United offered a higher transfer fee.
Committed to Arsenal
“If (Hugo) Viana were still at Sporting, the deal would have been done within an hour. Everything was written but we didn’t have time to start a legal battle. I don’t understand how a player who scored so many goals and won three trophies didn’t deserve more respect.
“The industry is about trusting people. The sacrifices we made were probably the turning point in getting the deal done. They offered him to Real Madrid, made headlines with Madrid and even United, but from day one there was a commitment to Arsenal.”
The Sweden international has three goals in 10 appearances, not the kind of start he would have hoped for.
United fans won’t care. Sesko is starting to show why INEOS splurged big on him, and fans are expecting great things from the Slovenian, who looks like the real deal.
Feature image Gualter Fatia via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
