Man Utd Shock: Amorim Prefers Watkins Over £70m Target Sesko

Ollie Watkins has scored 75 goals across 184 Premier League games to date (Picture: Getty)

Ruben Amorim would rather sign Ollie Watkins than Benjamin Sesko despite Manchester United making the latter their No.1 transfer target.

The Red Devils are keen to recruit a new striker ahead of the new Premier League season and have been strongly linked to both players this summer.

United’s hierarchy have now decided to prioritise a move for RB Leipzig forward Sesko and are hoping to strike a deal for £60-70m plus add-ons.

It’s somewhat of a surprising call, given United head coach Amorim would actually prefer to sign Watkins from Aston Villa , talkSPORT have reported.

Amorim has made it clear he’d like to bring in players with Premier League experience, such as new signings Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.

Watkins certainly fits that description, having proven himself as a Premier League goalscorer, unlike Sesko, who has never played in England before.

Benjamin Sesko has never played in English football (Picture: Getty)

But United have decided to focus on Sesko instead because they feel Watkins’ price tag is too high for a player who turns 30 in December.

Villa are believed to want £60m for Watkins – but United are only willing to pay up to £45m for the 29-year-old Englishman.

That has seen the Red Devils make Sesko their No.1 target with United’s director of recruitment Christopher Vivell thought to be driving the deal having worked with RB Leipzig and the player’s old club Red Bull Salzburg.

Sesko has become Man Utd’s No.1 transfer target (Picture: Getty)

Rio Ferdinand has questioned if Sesko can adapt to the Premier League (Picture: Getty)

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand has been left ‘worried’ over United’s decision to prioritise Sesko over Watkins.

Speaking on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel, he said: ‘If you get Watkins, you’ve got guaranteed 15-20 goals really and then you’ve got that with Cunha and you’ve got that with Mbeumo.

‘Not completely guaranteed, but you’ve got double figures all the way up front.

‘Bear in mind, we were 16th in terms of goals scored last season and these lot are getting you minimum 40 goals between them.’

Ruben Amorim would rather sign Watkins than Sesko (Picture: Getty)

Ferdinand is not writing off Sesko coming in and succeeding at United but believes the move would be riskier than a deal for Villa striker Watkins.

Pointing to Rasmus Hojlund’s struggles since arriving in English football, Ferdinand added: ‘The only difference is that Rasmus came in and had inexperience around him in terms of [Alejandro] Garnacho one side and Amad [Diallo] the other, for instance, most of the time.