Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen believes the Red Devils should sign Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins instead of RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko
Manchester United have been warned against signing Benjamin Sesko and urged to bring in Ollie Watkins instead. The Red Devils look set to win the race for Sesko after it emerged that he has made it clear he would prefer to join them over Newcastle.
However, former coach Rene Meulensteen, who worked at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson, is unconvinced by Sesko and believes the move is "exactly what they did with Rasmus Hojlund".
Hojlund joined the club from Atalanta back in 2023 but the 22-year-old has struggled to make much of an impact, managing just 26 goals in 95 appearances across all competitions.
Speaking to Poker Strategy, Meulensteen said: " Manchester United's bid for Benjamin Sesko is basically exactly what they did with Rasmus Hojlund.
"If he scores in the first three or four games and hits the ground running then he could be the answer for the club, but there's a chance that won't happen. If you look at Hojlund, he joined Atalanta and performed well alongside the rest of the team and then joined United.
"The same can be said for Sesko – the Bundesliga is a very different league to the Premier League, so he'll need to adapt. Has Sesko got potential? 100%, but he's still young and developing and he isn't the finished article."
Meulensteen instead believes that his former club would be better served signing Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, who is a more proven commodity and has scored 75 goals in 184 Premier League appearances.
"I look at someone like Ollie Watkins who may be available," Meulensteen explained. "He's a hard-working player with similar features to Sesko, except that he already has Premier League experience which is priceless.
"I think Sesko would probably cost more than Watkins too. Why doesn't the club bring in Watkins and allow the coaches to work closely with Hojlund to allow him to develop?
"It's a waste of an investment otherwise – they paid close to £80m for him and they're in danger of selling him for less than half of that unless he develops."