Man Utd set to sign “one of Europe’s best CFs”

An impressive first season in English football saw Benjamin Sesko finish as Manchester United’s joint-top scorer in the Premier League and all competitions, overcoming a slow start to net 12 times following his £74m move from RB Leipzig.

Brought in as a replacement for 2023 arrival Rasmus Hojlund, the question remains as to whether Slovenia has really improved, with Hojlund’s first season at Old Trafford being similar.

Back in 2023/24, the Dane topped the club’s charts again, although, like Sesko, he had to have a quiet start, until Boxing Day to score his first league goal, before scoring in six consecutive league games at the start of 2024.

What followed was just four top-flight goals in the following campaign, before he was rushed to Napoli last summer.

Hopefully 23-year-old Sesko will not suffer the same fate, however there is still a clear need for an experienced striker to compete with him.

Man Utd are looking to sign a new striker for the fourth summer in a row

It was Hojlund in 2023 and Sesko in 2025, then Joshua Zirkzee came in, with the Red Devils prioritizing young, up-and-coming strikers for three years in a row.

Since the days of Robin van Persie in 2012/13 has a United striker, or any United player for that matter, scored 20 or more league goals, the lack of a consistent, clinical number nine has been a problem at Old Trafford.

With Zirkzee expected to join Hojlund this summer, the need for a new number nine will increase, especially before the return of Champions League football.

With that in mind, Caught Offside reports that INEOS have drawn up a five-man shortlist in this regard, a number of targets including Crystal Palace talisman, Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen is said to be a ‘dream’ target, although Mateta is among the more likely or cheaper options, as well as having the added bonus of his proven Premier League experience.

Reportedly also a target for United back in January, the 28-year-old could make a £40m move, with a year remaining on his contract at Selhurst Park.

Mateta would be a great development for Sesko this summer

History will not be kind to Hojlund at United, with only 26 goals in 95 games, although the Scandinavian, for a while, looked like a master in the making, heading Gabriel and William Saliba in his first Premier League game, while he scored that amazing goal, alone against Galatasaray in the Champions League.

There has been a similar feeling to Sesko at times this season, be it his late winner against Everton, or his last-gasp effort at home to Fulham, yet like the man before him, there has been a lack of consistency.

Of his 11 league goals, five came in a seven-game run in February and March, with his first campaign, like Hojlund, somewhat affected by injury.

The marquee is a talent, no doubt, but if United are looking for a sure thing, Mateta would be the best bet, the Frenchman seemingly at his best during a fruitful couple of years in south London.

Part of France’s World Cup squad, it has been a remarkable rise for a player who got off to a rocky start after joining Palace in 2021, scoring just eight league goals in his first two-and-a-half seasons.

From 2023/24, however, the 6 foot 4 sensation lives on, mainly thanks to the departed manager, Oliver Glasner, who scored 16, 14 and 12 goals, respectively, in the last three campaigns.

In comparison, including his time at RB Leipzig, Sesko remains behind after scoring 14 and 13 goals in the Bundesliga in 2023/24 and 2024/25, before adding 11 in Manchester.

Mateta isn’t perfect, with the aforementioned 20 ‘big chances’ missed last season, but on the one hand, he often creates space for himself, doing so in a side that tends to use a more logical approach to their 3-4-2-1 setup.

His goal conversion rate of 19% was also ahead of Sesko in 2025/26 (18%), and he also scored twice as part of Palace’s successful Conference League run.

The former Mainz man is a physical, powerful presence, a man who seems to enjoy his talismanic status with the Eagles. According to Paul Merson, he is “a much better player” than United’s number 30.

Sesko, still only 23, may get there soon, but Mateta already seems the finished article, hailed as “one of the best strikers in Europe” by a certain Wayne Rooney.

As Sesko still needs time to develop, bringing in an experienced short-term development will no doubt ease the pressure on him.