Manchester United have lined up moves for Porto’s Samu Aghehowa and Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis if they can’t secure the services of Benjamin Sesko, according to reports.
The Red Devils lodged an official bid worth up to €85m (£74m) for Sesko on Monday afternoon but it is believed to be slightly below what Newcastle have offered (€90m).
It is now up to the Slovenian’s club RB Leipzig to decide whether to accept either bid, but if Ruben Amorim’s side don’t get the response they are hoping for, The Sun claim that Aghehowa and Pavlidis are the two backup options.
The English tabloid report that the Manchester side is “ready to raid” the Portuguese league to seal their signatures.
Aghehowa and Pavlidis’s goal records compared
Both players scored 20+ goals for their respective clubs last season, with Aghehowa finding the back of the net 27 times in all competitions.
Pavlidis, meanwhile, scored 30, although he did make 13 more appearances than Aghehowa, having also played for Benfica at the Club World Cup.
When will Man United find out if they have won the race for Sesko?
Some journalists have reported that Newcastle want an answer within the next 24 hours, so it may not be long before we hear whether the 22-year-old is heading to either St James’ Park or Old Trafford.
Of course, there are a lot of moving parts to this transfer. In addition to getting approval of the player, Leipzig need to be happy with the bid on the table.
United feel their proposal, which includes €75m up front and another €10m in add-ons, matches Sesko’s valuation, but his club may feel differently. If the add-ons are easily achievable (as some claim) then the bid could be accepted.
Read our exclusive interview with ex-Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen as he talks about Sesko and another reported target, Gianluigi Donnarumma.
David Tully
David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World’s Football News Network.
