Man Utd make £74m bid for RB Leipzig striker Sesko

Benjamin Sesko has scored 16 goals in 41 appearances for Slovenia

Manchester United have made a bid for RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko with the overall package potentially rising to 85m euros (£73.8m).

The offer includes a guaranteed payment of 75m euros (£65.2m).

The Red Devils are yet to get a response but believe it is an appropriate valuation for the 22-year-old Slovenia forward and that he is keen to move to Old Trafford.

Newcastle United also want Sesko and have made a bid in the region of 80m euros (£69.5m) as they continue negotiations with Leipzig.

The offer from Manchester United is seen as significant as there had been suggestions they did not want to firm up their interest with Leipzig without knowing the forward was prepared to join them.

Manchester United are willing to let Rasmus Hojlund leave the club in order to make space for Sesko to come in.

Sesko has 39 goals in 87 appearances for Leipzig and, at 6ft 5in, he would also bring a significant physical presence to the Old Trafford club's front line.

Manchester United sources have previously outlined how it is possible for them to reach an agreement on Sesko even though Sir Jim Ratcliffe said earlier this year there was the potential for the club to go bust by Christmas without massive cost-cutting measures.

Payment arrangements for the deals for Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo from Wolves and Brentford this summer, which total £130m, have been arranged in a favourable way.

In addition, the entirety of Marcus Rashford's £325,000-a-week salary is being covered by his loan move to Barcelona and Manchester United received £5m from Chelsea after the Blues pulled out of a deal to sign Jadon Sancho.

Manchester United have also received more than £15m in payments as part of sell-on clauses involving Anthony Elanga, Alvaro Carreras and Maxi Oyedele.

Why do Man Utd and Newcastle want Sesko?

Since moving to Germany, Sesko is the top scorer currently aged under 23 in all competitions, of players based in Europe's top five leagues - with 39 goals in 87 games.

He is one ahead of Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and five clear of Florian Wirtz, who joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen for £100m this summer.

Sesko is big, strong, quick, good in the air and a fine finisher, and has been compared to Erling Haaland - and not just because they both played for Salzburg.

As well as being a goalscorer, last season he was more of an all-rounder, with just 9.7% of his touches coming in the opposition box - compared with 17% the season before.

He got involved more on both wings and further back into midfield.

He was one of the fastest strikers in the Bundesliga at 35.7km/h - and had the best aerial success rate of strikers involved in at least 60 of them.

Only six forwards have scored more goals in the Bundesliga in the past two seasons, even though Sesko is 16th for expected goals, 14th on shots and 22nd on touches in the opposition box.

And he is lethal from long range too, with 36.8% of his shots - and 23.1% of his goals - coming from outside the box. Both are higher than any Bundesliga striker to score 12 or more goals last season.

A recruitment specialist working at the highest level recently said: "I think the physicality of the Premier League won't overawe him.

"The Bundesliga is one of the big three in the world, but when you look at transitioning into big leagues he has the physical capabilities to do it.

"You wouldn't expect him to hit the ground running straight away, but in six to 12 months he will be fine and you've got yourself a very good player."