Benjamin Sesko bidding war hits overdrive; EFL Championship nears weekend kickoff as European season gears up
Hello! The transfer window shows no signs of slowing down, all while the Championship nears its much-awaited return on Friday with a batch of fresh faces. I'm Pardeep Cattry with a midweek update as European clubs continue their final preparations for the new season.
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Wednesday, Aug. 6🇺🇸🇲🇽 Leagues Cup: Orlando City vs. Necaxa, 7 p.m. ➡️ MLS Season Pass🇺🇸 USL Championship: Monterrey Bay vs. FC Tulsa, 10 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
Thursday, Aug. 7🏴 League One: Port Vale vs. Cardiff City, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network🇺🇸🇲🇽 Leagues Cup: Monterrey vs. Charlotte FC, 7:30 p.m. ➡️ FS1
⚽ The Forward Line❓ A battle for Benjamin SeskoBenjamin Sesko is the latest notable attacker in Europe to attract genuine interest from the Premier League, with Manchester United battling Newcastle United to land the 22-year-old forward.
Newcastle reportedly opened the bidding at around $87 million plus another $6 million in add-ons, according to the Athletic, which RB Leipzig turned down. United later offered the same $87 million transfer fee but threw in $12 million in add-ons and though Leipzig have accepted Newcastle's improved offer of $96 million plus $3 million, Sesko reportedly prefers to join the Red Devils. His preference seems likely to pave the way for a move to Old Trafford, where he will become the team's newest No. 9 – and perhaps the focal point of United's rebuild to match the vision of manager Ruben Amorim.
Ahead of his first full season in charge, United have been recruiting players Amorim believes will be an ideal fit for his preferred 3-4-3 formation and very much prioritized attack this summer, signing Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. Sesko would be the central focus of that front three, perhaps a natural move for a young forward with plenty of potential to become one of the best of his generation. There is a question to be asked, though, if the Slovenia international is ready for the move – he has a strong set of skills based on his speed and physicality, but it feels more like raw talent rather than the finished product, all understandable for a 22-year-old. Amorim's ability to develop a talent like Sesko is a great unknown at this time, but the manager's ability to get the best out of new Arsenal signing Viktor Gyokeres when they worked together at Sporting Lisbon offers a positive sign.
Sesko's move to United, should it happen, also exemplifies the issues at large at Old Trafford. He is merely just one part of an undeveloped team, who are beginning their umpteenth rebuild in the last decade and change, all with the hopes that this one will actually work. They seem to have put full faith in Amorim ahead of his first full season in charge but are working with a manager who is fairly new to the highest levels of the sport, who is enlisting a somewhat unproven group of players to carry out his vision. How quickly any of this works – if it works at all – is the perennial question at Old Trafford at this point, as is one about whether anyone will be afforded enough time to put it all together.
Wrexham's EFL Championship debutThe European season unofficially marks its start with the opening match of the Championship season on Friday, the Premier League promotion race stealing the spotlight this weekend as 24 hopefuls target a spot in England's top flight with stellar play over the next nine months. Play gets underway at St Andrew's in a battle between two promotion hopefuls in Birmingham City and Ipswich Town, the latter back in the Championship after finishing 19th in the Premier League last season.
While the three promotion spots will be top of mind, there will be other ways for players to find themselves in the Premier League this time next year, chiefly by impressing in England's second division. The Championship has served as a decent testing ground for players who eventually take the step up to the Premier League, Viktor Gyokeres perhaps acting as the latest example – the new Arsenal player scored 41 goals for Coventry City before joining Sporting Lisbon, excelling in Portugal before booking a high-profile move to north London. As Chuck Booth writes, there will be plenty of players to keep an eye on to follow in Gyokeres' footsteps, with Middlesbrough's Tommy Conway leading the list.
- Booth: "We're reaching a prototypical nine now, as big things will be expected from Tommy Conway this coming season. He registered 13 goals and one assist last season with Middlesbrough, but he's starting to become a consistent scorer at the level with 31 Championship goals and five assists in the past three seasons between Bristol City and Boro. The 23-year-old doesn't have the same work rate as others on the list, but with how strong his finishing has been, that can be looked past, especially since Conway does bring his passing into helping in the attack and the buildup. On a different team, he could have higher assist numbers, but that's not needed with Boro where he is allowed to stay in the box and put the ball in the back of the net."
American forwards will also have a chance to impress over the course of the next nine months, especially with a World Cup on home soil less than a year away. Josh Sargent and Haji Wright are still with Norwich City and Coventry City, respectively, but two new names join the league after taking part in a run to the Gold Cup final earlier this summer – Damion Downs, who joined Southampton from FC Koln and more notably, Patrick Agyemang is now at Derby County after leaving MLS' Charlotte FC.
🔗 Top Stories💰 Sesko's big deal: RB Leipzig are poised to collect around $100 million in transfer fees for Benjamin Sesko, though that opens up a new can of worms for the player and his eventual new club about whether the deal is worth it at that price.
🏴 Procrastinating PL teams: With just over a week to go until the Premier League season begins, here's a look at which teams still have plenty of work to do in order to be ready for their opening matches of the season.
⬆️ PL promotion race: Many eyes will be on Wrexham as they chase a fourth successive promotion but breezing through the Championship and reaching the Premier League is easier said than done. Here's a look at what it takes to reach the Premier League – and how newly promoted teams usually fare.
☀️ Son to LAFC: Son Heung-min is on the cusp of finalizing a deal to join LAFC for an MLS record transfer fee, a move that feels like a perfect fit for all involved.
🆕 NWSL returns: Trinity Rodman stole the show and earned a spot on the NWSL's team of the week in the league's first weekend back from the summer break, while the Kansas City Current still have a stronghold atop the power rankings.
🔴🔵 Palace's big year: After winning the FA Cup, Crystal Palace may have a big season ahead of them with European competition – and so might a handful of other rising teams in Europe's top five leagues.
❓ Acosta's MLS exit?: Here's the latest as Lucho Acosta mulls over an MLS exit – and what his future with the U.S. men's national team could look like.
🟡 Partey to Villarrel: Thomas Partey will join Villarreal after a court in England granted him provisional bail after being charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
🇪🇸🏴 La Liga vs. EPL: The Morning Footy crew asks: Could a single player from the Premier League's best XI even crack La Liga's equivalent?
💰 The Back Line💵 Best bets- Leagues Cup: Monterrey vs. Charlotte FC, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.💰 THE PICK: Wilfried Zaha to score (+185) – Wilfried Zaha might not be Charlotte FC's go-to goalscorer with just six goals so far this season but the winger is quietly in the midst of a solid run of form with four goal contributions in his last four games. It is definitely not out of the question that he could add another to the tally on Thursday in North Carolina, which could help Charlotte pick up their first win of the Leagues Cup campaign.
For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don't miss out on CBSSports.com's betting home page.
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