INEOS splashed the cash in the summer transfer window to provide Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim with more quality at both ends of the pitch.
Senne Lammens was brought in from Royal Antwerp, to replace Andre Onana, and has prevented 1.51 xG across five appearances in the Premier League so far this season, per Sofascore.
£62.5m was also spent on the signing of Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Brazil international scored his first goal for the club last month in the 4-2 win against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Bryan Mbeumo has arguably been the most successful addition to the squad. Since his £71m move from Brentford, the left-footed star has scored five goals and provided one assist in 11 Premier League games for the Red Devils.
Whilst Cunha and Mbeumo both arrived from other English clubs as known quantities, the club were also willing to splash the cash on more of a gamble, with Benjamin Sesko.
The Red Devils spent £66.4m to sign the Slovenia international from RB Leipzig in the summer to replace Rasmus Hojlund, and he has had a mixed start to life at Old Trafford.
Why Man Utd need to sign another centre-forward
Sesko has scored two goals in 11 appearances in the Premier League since his big-money move from Germany, and both of those goals came in his first seven outings.
The 22-year-old marksman scored his first goal for the club against Brentford in September, before netting his second goal against Sunderland in a 2-0 win at Old Trafford.
Sesko scored 13 goals in 33 matches in the Bundesliga in the 2024/25 campaign for Leipzig, per Sofascore, so it was always going to be a tough ask for the striker to hit the ground running as a goal machine in the Premier League.
The Slovenian forward, as shown in the graphic above, has missed more ‘big chances’ than he has managed goals scored, which suggests that he needs to improve his efficiency in front of goal if he wants to be the main number nine for Amorim.
Minutes
90
30
Shots
3
0
Goals
0
0
Key passes
0
0
Big chances created
0
0
Ground duels won
0/0
0/7
Aerial duels won
0/3
2/2
As you can see in the table above, Sesko struggled in his last two appearances for United before the international break, losing the majority of his physical duels without offering any significant threat in the final third.
The former Leipzig star’s mixed start to his career at Old Trafford may explain why the club are reportedly looking to add another player in his position in the winter market.
Man Utd chasing deal for another Bundesliga striker
According to CaughtOffside, Manchester United are one of a number of clubs chasing a deal to sign Borussia Dortmund centre-forward Serhou
Guirassy.
The report claims that he has a release clause in his contract with the German side that will allow him to be sold for a fee of roughly £44m to a ‘select group of elite clubs’ in the January transfer window.
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It adds that Arsenal, Manchester United, and PSG are all in the race to sign the Guinea international, but it remains unclear if any of those three teams fall into the group of clubs that can activate that release clause.
CaughtOffside reports that the Red Devils are ones to watch in the race to land the Bundesliga centre-forward because Amorim wants more experienced options in his frontline.
Sesko, 22, is still in the early stages of his development and Guirassy could be viewed as an experienced number nine who could offer a huge upgrade in the immediate term.
Why Man Utd should sign Serhou Guirassy
At the age of 29, the Dortmund centre-forward would arrive at Old Trafford as the experienced striker that Amorim wants to bolster his squad with, as he would be ready to come in and make an instant impact.
It can sometimes be the case with young players that they have the technical qualities and potential to be an incredible player in the future, but they do not have a tight grasp of the nuances that come with delivering consistently at the top level.
Guirassy, being 29 and having been around the block, has tightened up his game and is focused on output, scoring and assisting goals, which is reflected in his statistics compared to Sesko’s over the past 365 days.
His statistics when it comes to scoring goals and creating goals are far more impressive than the young Slovenian’s, which is understandable given the difference in experience between the two players.
The Dortmund striker was even described by German legend Lothar Matthaus as “one of the best strikers in Europe” back in March, which speaks to how much he has impressed in German football.
Appearances
30
33
Goals
21
13
Minutes per goal
124
185
Big chances missed
21
10
Conversion rate
23%
19%
Big chances created
7
5
Assists
2
5
As you can see in the table above, the United transfer target scored eight more goals than Sesko in the Bundesliga during the 2024/25 campaign, despite playing three fewer matches.
The experienced centre-forward has also scored seven goals in 15 appearances in all competitions during the current season, per Sofascore, whilst the Red Devils marksman has only scored twice since his move from Leipzig.
Therefore, United could immediately improve their starting line-up by bringing the Dortmund striker in to be a huge upgrade on Sesko, given that their respective performances over the past 18 months suggest that he would offer significantly more as a goalscorer.
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This is why INEOS should push to beat Arsenal and PSG to the signing of the Bundesliga star to add more goals to the team for the second half of the season, whilst also providing Sesko with an experienced mentor to help him improve in the long term.