Manchester United reportedly hope to rival Arsenal this summer for the signature of RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko.
The Slovenia international is hot property right now after scoring 39 goals in two seasons in the German Bundesliga.
Arsenal are widely believed to be his most likely destination this summer, with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta desperate to add a prolific goalscorer to his squad.
However, journalist Christian Falk, who is the head of football at BILD, tweeted on Saturday morning: ‘Man Utd have secret weapon in bid to steal Benjamin Sesko from Arsenal’.
Falk also shared a link to an article by CaughtOffside in which he is quoted as saying of Sesko: ‘There are already talks with Arsenal.
‘From the Premier League, beside Arsenal also Manchester United are particularly interested. Christopher Vivell was there to watch Sesko at the game in Wolfsburg in mid-April. He once helped discover him and brought the footballer to Salzburg as a 16-year-old in 2019.’
RB Leipzig and Slovenia star Benjamin Sesko is a top transfer target for Arsenal this summer
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is desperate to add a prolific goalscorer to his young squad
But Manchester United’s director of recruitment Christopher Vivell previously signed Sesko for Leipzig and could reportedly be a ‘secret weapon’ to help bring him to Old Trafford
Vivell is United’s director of recruitment, having committed to the job on a permanent basis in February following an interim spell in the role.
He previously worked at Chelsea and RB Leipzig, but it was during his time at RB Salzburg that he first signed Sesko, in 2019 when the striker arrived from Domzale.
Sesko netted 21 goals in 55 Austrian Bundesliga games for Salzburg before moving to Leipzig in July 2023.
The 22-year-old, who has 16 goals in 41 appearances at senior international level, is now valued at £92.5m, according to a recent report by The Telegraph.
United, having missed out on Champions League qualification after losing to Tottenham in last week’s Europa League final, will need to sell multiple players in order to be able to afford Leipzig’s current asking price.
Bruno Fernandes is United’s most valuable asset and has serious interest from Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
United would rather not sell Fernandes but are willing to entertain offers for several first-team players, including Alejandro Garnacho.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony are also for sale this summer, having spent the 2024-25 season on loan away from Old Trafford.
