Man United make Benjamin Sesko their TOP striker target over Ollie Watkins - as Red Devils look to fend off competition from Newcastle

Benjamin Sesko has emerged as Manchester United’s No 1 striker target this summer.

United have been weighing up a move for the young RB Leipzig centre-forward or Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, and will now channel their efforts into signing Sesko.

They will face competition from Newcastle, who want Sesko to replace Alexander Isak if he moves to Liverpool, and it is still possible that head coach Ruben Amorim could go into the new season without a new striker.

It’s understood that United approached Villa over a deal in the region of £45million for Watkins, but their Premier League rivals did not want to sell and it would have taken a significantly higher offer to alter that stance.

Watkins, 29, would have given Amorim the Premier League experience he wants after spending more than £130m on Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, of Wolves, this summer.

Sesko is a younger option at 22 and the Slovenia international will also command a higher transfer fee, with RB Leipzig putting a high valuation on the 6ft 5in forward.

However, it’s understood the German club have a gentlemen’s agreement with the 22-year-old to let him go for £60-70m plus add-ons to certain clubs.

United have been tracking Sesko for some time and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell is a key figure in negotiations having previously worked at Leipzig and the player’s former club Red Bull Salzburg. 

Sesko has scored 39 goals in 87 games for Leipzig, and 16 goals in 41 appearances for Slovenia.

United had originally hoped to sign Liam Delap this summer, but the Ipswich striker moved to Chelsea instead. A number of other strikers have been considered, but Isak and Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson were deemed too expensive.

Newcastle will still hope they can persuade Sesko to move to Tyneside if Isak leaves after speaking to Leipzig and the player’s camp.