Benjamin Sesko has explained why he rejected interest from Newcastle United and Arsenal to sign for Manchester United in the summer.
The Slovenian striker completed his £74million move to Old Trafford in August, signing from RB Leipzig after two promising seasons in the Bundesliga.
Sesko has had a mixed start to his life in the Premier League, scoring back-to-back goals before the most recent international break, but benched for United’s superb win over Liverpool at Anfield last weekend.
Over the summer, the 22-year-old was wanted by several English clubs who were in the market for a new goalscorer.
Arsenal held a long-standing interest in Sesko but after failing to agree a deal with the player and RB Leipzig, the Gunners turned their attention to Viktor Gyokeres, signing the Sweden international for £63m.
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Newcastle then looked to have pounced after they agreed a deal with Leipzig worth €80m (£69.5m), plus €5m (£4.3m) in add-ons for the 22-year-old.
However, at the eleventh hour, it was United who came in and secured the deal, luring Sesko to Old Trafford on a five-year deal.
Reports over the summer suggested that Sesko had always preferred a move to United, and the striker has now confirmed that he only had eyes on joining Ruben Amorim’s side and fulfilling his life-long dream after learning of the Red Devils’ interest.
‘It’s not just mine, but probably for loads of football players, it’s just a dream,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘Something that you want to achieve in your career, especially to play for a club like that.
‘When I heard that I can move here and there are big possibilities that I can change clubs, especially to United, I was burning. It’s something that I always wanted to have. It happened and I’m really happy.’
Asked if United was the only team he wanted to join, Sesko replied: ‘Yeah. For me, this was a dream to play for a club like this and a stadium like this. It’s something that I always wanted.’
Speaking over the summer, Sesko’s agent, Elvis Basanovic, said that his client was also willing to make financial sacrifices to get his move to United over the line.
‘‘I think it was also important that Benjamin’s desire was to leave, for some years now for Manchester United,’ he told POPoln kanal.
‘And we saw that Benjamin was also willing to accept a slightly lower wage in the case of Manchester United, that I myself was also prepared to accept a lower commission.
‘It was simply a desire, and somehow Benjamin’s dreams, as well as our dreams, that something like this happens and we are really happy.’
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