Sesko over Watkins? Man Utd take Hojlund, Zirkzee risk again over what’s really important
Manchester United have decided that Benjamin Sesko for £74million makes more sense than Ollie Watkins for £50million.
As This Is Manchester United Football Club We’re Talking About, we have our doubts.
Why Ollie Watkins over Benjamin Sesko for Manchester United?
The overriding argument for Watkins is pretty compelling in our eyes: guaranteed goals. That is something United have notoriously lacked in recent seasons. They re-signed Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021 and he provided that for a year under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. He scored 24 goals in 38 games after Edinson Cavani bagged 17 in 39 the season before.
Since their successful — albeit short-term — goalscoring exploits, United changed their striker recruitment philosophy to guys for the future. And how has that gone so far? Well…
Rasmus Hojlund for £68million has been nothing short of a disaster. He needed 15 games to score his first Premier League goal, which did lead to a purple patch before an injury halted his goalscoring streak. Three in his last nine top-flight games of the season at least hinted he could pick up where he left off in 2024/25.
He absolutely did not. The 22-year-old Dane registered four goals and zero assists in the Premier League last season. Joshua Zirkzee was even signed to unload some of the centre-forward burden, which didn’t help.
Zirkzee was another inexperienced forward with no Premier League experience brought in by the club last summer. And just like with Hojlund, it’s proving to be a poor investment. Both players are young and can easily improve — even potentially become world-class — but these two case studies should be enough proof for United that no matter how appealing the prospect of signing Sesko is, they should have resisted the urge and gone all in on Watkins.
There is an argument for why that’s not the direction United should have taken — and we’ll get to that — but how Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his transfer team haven’t used the Hojlund and Zirkzee evidence to ensure they don’t make the same mistake is startling. Ronaldo and Cavani are important here as well. The former was signed when he was 36 and Cavani was 33. Yet they were reliable options in front of goal, something Hojlund and Zirkzee have failed to become.
Ronaldo and Cavani are not the only strikers older than Watkins (29) signed by the Red Devils who thrived at Old Trafford. There’s also Zlatan Ibrahimovic — the club’s second-best post-Sir Alex Ferguson signing — Robin van Persie, and, a long time ago, Teddy Sheringham.
The fact Watkins turns 30 in December means absolutely nothing in a footballing sense. Players keep themselves in the sort of shape these days that means he could still be flying for United six years from now. But, no. In classic United fashion, they’ve gone for the flashy new toy — whose upside is huge, we know — but who also has an incredible, potentially Hojlund-esque downside.
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The main issue with Watkins appears to be his resale value. In that respect, the best-case scenario is that Watkins performs at a high level for a few years and Saudi Arabia come calling with a huge offer that the player wants to pursue. The worst-case scenario is that he’s pants from day one and United are stuck with another high-earning, underperforming, big-money flop. Having watched Watkins in the Premier League for the last five years, that is very unlikely. And yes, so unlikely that we are completely writing it off, which we haven’t done with the prospect of Sesko being another Hojlund (or only a little bit better).
‘Resale value’ can be disregarded when the player pays you back on the pitch, and that’s what Watkins would do at Old Trafford. His worst Premier League goal return came in 2021/22, when he scored 11. That was also the only season Watkins missed more than one game across a top-flight campaign. He played 38 out of 38 last term!
It’s a Manchester United decision that’s just…very Manchester United, but there is some logic to it.
Why Benjamin Sesko over Ollie Watkins for Manchester United?
United’s transfer philosophy changes every summer, and the mood this year is to only sign players who really want to play for the club. Sesko fits the bill, while Watkins wasn’t aggressively pushing for the move. That’s the biggest factor for United, we think.
And then there were the selling clubs. Everything we said about Watkins could be worth nothing if Aston Villa have zero intention to sell the player. RB Leipzig, on the other hand, have every intention to sell Sesko — but it was always going to happen on their terms.
MORE: Ollie Watkins or Benjamin Sesko: Which striker should Man Utd sign?
Arsenal reportedly preferred Sesko to new signing Viktor Gyokeres but were put off by the German club’s whopping valuation of the 22-year-old Slovenian: 90 million euros.
That’s around £78.5m, and it’s what Newcastle United offered Leipzig for the player. United, knowing he only wanted them, went a little under that — offering £74m. Reports suggest that offer has already been increased to match the Magpies’, such is the Red Devils’ desire to get Sesko through the door and ready for their Premier League opener against Arsenal.
The fact Leipzig are open to negotiations, and most importantly, Sesko is desperate to join, holds more weight in the United boardroom than a guaranteed success in Watkins — even if that’s what Ruben Amorim’s side are desperately crying out for.
And we might be blinded by Hojlund and Zirkzee’s performances. They don’t necessarily mean that every young attacker signed by United will turn out rubbish — even if nearly all of their major signings over the last 12 years have been just that. The trend has to break at some point. Sesko certainly has the potential and current ability to be the trend-breaker.
Still, the overriding point from us remains: Who is more likely to get United back in the top five? Watkins, for me, Clive. And that’s the bottom line.
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