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The transfer saga involving Benjamin Sesko needs to come to an end quickly, and it’s not clear how that will end.

Both Manchester United and Newcastle United are awaiting an answer after making high-dollar bids for the Leipzig striker.

Sesko is alleged to have informed both clubs that he is his first choice, but BBC Sport has been informed that he wants to join the Red Devils.

However, each team has advantages and disadvantages, including whether either of the Premier League clubs are willing to sign him.

And where would he spend more time playing video games?

The Slovenian could make a difference wherever he ends up, but one thing seems certain: he could be big, strong, quick, and clinical.

Do they actually make a bid? Do they exist?

On Tuesday, Sesko received Manchester United’s first official offer.

Simon Stone, the head of BBC Sport’s football news program, reports a starting fee of £65.2 million that will increase to £73.8 million.

Before making their move, they were assumed to want to make sure Sesko wanted to follow them.

According to Old Trafford sources, they do not need to sell players before making more signings, but they do acknowledge that Ruben Amorim’s desire to finance several players will need to be funded.

Sesko would like to join them, but why?

If Sesko signed for Manchester United, he would likely start at one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Since leaving Atalanta for the club for £64 million, Rasmus Hojlund, also 22, has only scored 14 Premier League goals in the last two years.

Sesko, who moved from Salzburg to Leipzig in the summer, has since scored 27 Bundesliga goals.

Ruben Amorim complained about his team’s inability to score enough frequently during the majority of the season, but many outside United observers believe any extra money would be better spent on a physical, energetic central midfielder, according to Stone.

“Clearly, he thinks Rasmus Hojlund needs to be upgraded at the top of the pitch. In order to do that, United are willing to take Hojlund’s offers into consideration when negotiating with RB Leipzig.

And he could join Matheus Cunha, a Wolves signing this summer, and former Nottingham Forest man Mbeumo, who will both be signing for about £130 million this summer.

If he were the main attraction, he could receive a lot of service from the three closest players.

In his team-mates’ ten chances, Bruno Fernandes scored more chances than any other Premier League player last season, a total of 91.

Mbeumo and Cunha were in fifth place, with 57 chances for Wolves players, while Mbeumo and Cunha were in fifth place.

Why might Sesko object against joining them?

Sesko might decide Old Trafford would not be the best place to pursue his career, which is clearly evident from the start.

For one, they haven’t competed in any European competition this year. In three of his previous four seasons, Sesko has participated in the Champions League and the Europa League in the other.

And he would be a member of a team that finished 15th overall last year, which was their worst campaign since 1973-74 when they were promoted.

Boss Amorim has had the opportunity to rebuild this summer despite only taking over halfway through the previous campaign. However, a poor start could also lead to managerial change.

Do they actually make a bid? Do they exist?

Sesko has been offered around £70 million by Newcastle, and they are still negotiating with Leipzig.

They want him despite Alexander Isak’s departure as the club’s star striker, who had previously attempted to sign Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt to join the Swede.

Instead, Ekitike moved to Liverpool, who coincidentally want Isak and have rejected their £110 million bid.

Sesko would like to join them, but why?

Sesko would return to the Champions League if he were to join Newcastle, who finished fifth last season.

After completing their 56-year trophy drought with the Carabao Cup, he would be joining an apparently upwardly mobile club.

Lois Openda, who was the second-quickest player in the Bundesliga last year, is the other player who has made the most of Sesko’s time playing in the front two at Leipzig.

If he stays with the Magpies, he would relish the chance to form a strike partnership with Isak.

Additionally, he might have plenty of opportunities thanks to the second and third top assisters in the Premier League last season providing him with wing support.

Before making his £55m move to Tyneside, Anthony Elanga contributed 11 assists for Nottingham Forest.

Why might Sesko object against joining them?

Isak’s decision to stay or leave might be seen as a win-win situation for Sesko.

Sesko would almost certainly have the opportunity to start every game if he leaves. However, he might be concerned about the club’s ambitions since they recently lost a key player.

If Eddie Howe chooses against a front two, or it fails, Isak is unlikely to be shoved out the wing to make room for Sesko, as he does if he stays.

He joins a team that has never competed in the tournament properly in consecutive seasons and has never advanced to the knockout stages if winning the Champions League is a priority.

Could Leipzig still have him?

Due to the high price Leipzig are asking for, as well as the alleged desire for add-ons, they do not need to sell Sesko.

However, they are undergoing a summer rebuild under Ole Werner, a new 37-year-old head coach.

Six signings totalling £80 million have been made, but they haven’t yet completed a significant sale to make more money.

Chelsea are, however, attempting to sign Leipzig attacking midfielder Xavi Simons for a significant sum.

Sesko wants to stay, but why?

Sesko might not be opposed to a third Bundesliga season at Leipzig, where he could play every game and make improvements over the previous campaign, which saw him score 13 goals against 14 in the process.

The only thing to keeping might be to wait another season to see if any reputable Champions League clubs would want to sign him.

Due to his fee, few sides are currently able to afford him.

However, Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane, the frontman for Bayern Munich, are both 32. So they might begin looking forward to the season ahead.

Sesko has previously been linked to both sides.

The central striking options at Real Madrid depend on Kylian Mbappe and Kylian Mbappe, so they may have to make adjustments.

He has also been linked with Chelsea and Arsenal this summer, before they signed Viktor Gyokeres.

So could Sesko decide to wait and see what’s on the table for the summer?

Why might Sesko choose not to stay?

Sesko may well feel that his Red Bull clubs and Leipzig have served him well given that he started his apprenticeship there in Salzburg.

This season, they won’t compete in any European competition.

Given that he is only 22 years old, he has been linked to Premier League clubs consistently in each transfer window.

This might be the right time to leave Leipzig, if they have a new-look team and manager.

As Liverpool, Bournemouth, and Crystal Palace prepare for the upcoming season, they all hosted double-header friendlies.

On Monday, the Premier League champions squared off with Athletic Bilbao twice, giving Arne Slot the chance to play his entire squad for the maximum number of minutes.

As Liverpool prepares for the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday, they featured 32 players.

Darwin Nunez scored in the first game after an hour of play and the Uruguay striker finding the net in a 4-1 victory.

Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, and Hugo Ekitike made their home debuts with a 3-2 victory, and Slot then assigned a different starting XI and bench for the second match.

In the pre-season, Crystal Palace plays twice in a day against German side Augsburg, a format that other clubs have followed.

Manager Oliver Glasner expressed his delight with the results of this double exam. We had good tests and made a big step forward at the conclusion of a really challenging training camp.

Before flying to the United States for the Premier League Summer Series, Bournemouth also played two times against Championship side Bristol City in hinter-closed-doors friendlies.

Ruben Dias and Nico O’Reilly, both defenders, have entered definitive agreements with Manchester City.

The current contract for academy product O’Reilly expires in 2028, while Dias’ current deal expires in 2027.

The length of the new contracts has not been made public by the sources.

Dias, 28, signed for City from Benfica for £65 million in 2020 and has represented the club 222 times, including four Premier League titles, the Champions League, and the FA Cup.

Before the transfer window closes on September 1st, City are anticipating leaving their squad.

The two injured players Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips, who are recovering from Achilles surgery, have not yet received any offers.

According to sources, Premier League clubs like Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, and the Bundesliga are interested in signing midfielder James McAtee.

Stefan Ortega is the most likely to leave City if offers are made following the signing of James Trafford, leaving City with four senior goalkeepers.

Rangers vs. Viktoria Plzen in the first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round

Ibrox Date: Tuesday, August 5th, 2019 Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Former Rangers manager Philippe Clement claims that the boardroom’s “total chaos” kept his job at Ibrox.

In October of that year, the Belgian coach took Michael Beale’s place, and he won the League Cup that year.

In his first year in charge, he also overhauled Celtic, winning them eight points and beating Motherwell, Ross County, and Celtic themselves in the title race.

A last-gasp Adam Idah goal in the final minute gave Celtic a 2-1 win over Celtic in the Scottish Cup.

The upheaval of Clement’s first summer in charge followed that.

Rangers started the season at Hampden Park due to a late shipment of materials for development works on the Copland Stand at Ibrox, while chairman John Bennett resigned for a position in the Middle East, and chief executive James Bisgrove left for a role in the Middle East.

Clement stated on BBC Scotland’s Sacked in the Morning podcast, “That’s the frustrating part of the story.”

Everyone was extremely pleased with what transpired in the club during the first seven months. A significant change occurred.

However, following that, the club changed a lot and things started to get chaotic.

Clement was left to address questions about the club’s off-field issues because of a lack of communication between the players in charge.

He claims that the board was unwilling to tell supporters about the long-term project Celtic needed to complete over the summer.

According to Clement, “They said we know we don’t currently have the money that Celtic does.”

“It was a very old squad,” the player said. We are aware that to close this financial gap with Celtic, we will need four, five, or perhaps six transfer windows.

And it begins with bringing in young players, developing them, improving them, and selling them to resurrect the club where it belongs.

Because the fans were already very upset about the stadium issue, I believe the board was reluctant to say these things to them.

Because there was no one else speaking in the club, I was the only one there.

Clement believes that instability at the top of the club was a key factor in Celtic’s on-field dominance during his time at Rangers, despite the fact that the club has since been taken over by a US-based consortium led by private healthcare tycoon Andrew Cavenagh.

When asked about the gap between the Old Firm clubs, he said, “There was a big difference about everything around the team, even maybe a bigger difference than on the pitch.”

Celtic is much more organized than Rangers in terms of preparation and throughout the entire club.

Following a league defeat defeat by St Mirren, Clement was fired in February 2025, leaving Rangers 13 points behind Celtic.

Additionally, earlier that month, he had been humiliated by Championship side Queen’s Park’s Cup exit.

Before the club relieved him of his duties, an incident that irritated him, the former Belgium defender revealed that he was informed of the decision by journalists.

Clement remarked, “It felt incredibly empty.” Because all the journalists I spoke to already knew me, I was also upset that day.

I was unhappy with the fact that I received numerous messages from Scotland, England, and Belgium even before the club even contacted me. That is bad.

“I also told them that that was utter disrespectful,” I said.

However, because you combine everything in the club for both your full day and night, I felt really empty.

As Ireland and Ulster prepare for the Rugby World Cup, second row Fiona Tuite claims planning her wedding to Ulster prop Eric O’Sullivan has been a “nice distraction.”

Tuite is preparing for her first World Cup game while balancing her wedding plans for her long-term partner O’Sullivan in Sligo for the summer.

When Ireland play Japan in their opening Pool C game on August 24th, she is hoping to have her husband with her when they play there.

With the World Cup looming, wedding planning is on the back burner, but it’s nice to have a break from rugby, Tuite, who started in Ireland’s warm-up win over Scotland on Saturday, said.

“It would be great if Ulster could allow Eric to come see me”!

The 28-year-old made the decision to move from the back to the forward a few years ago, and she says it has given her more opportunities to play for Ireland.

She continued, “I absolutely adore it. I don’t think I would be here in the squad if I didn’t make the transition to the forwards.”

Tuite has won 15 caps since making her WXV3 debut in 2023 when she faced Colombia.

She claims it is surreal to be competing in a World Cup because she has been a part of a team that has steadily advanced under Scott Bemand in the past two years.

“We have been building momentum with the WXV1 and the Six Nations,” said the president.

We’re thrilled that so many people are overly supportive because the World Cup is so close to home.

“I started WXV3 and we’ve been up since then, we’ve had some blips along the way, but it’s amazing that we’re going to this World Cup.”

The infamous “Giteau’s Law,” which limited how many players could previous Wallabies coaches select from abroad, has been eliminated, according to Australian rugby bosses.

Among those who may stand out are La Rochelle’s Will Skelton, Taniela Tupou, Tom Hooper, and Langi Gleeson, who will play for Racing 92, Exeter, and Montpellier, respectively, next season.

However, Australia claim that if players are of “equal calibre” to an option outside their borders, head coach Joe Schmidt will favor them in one of their four Super Rugby franchises.

“But we’ve also made a choice to invest in our top competition in Australia because we should choose our domestic players if the players are of equal calibre.”

The Wallabies have struggled for depth and consistency in recent years, falling to sixth in the world rankings as a result of competing for domestic talent with Aussie Rules and rugby league clubs.

At the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, the two-time world champions were eliminated from the pool.

Before 2015, overseas players who played for the Wallabies were largely prohibited in Australia.

However, “Giteau’s Law” was introduced to allow a certain number of overseas players who had served time in Super Rugby and the national team to still be chosen after the likes of playmaker Matt Giteau, wing Drew Mitchell, and prop Sekope Kepu were lured abroad by large contracts.

Players with a commitment to return to Australian rugby have been exempt from the overseas quota, which has been further relaxed in recent years.

Such moves are made by centre Len Ikitau and prop Angus Bell for the upcoming season-long sabbaticals at Exeter and Ulster.

Just before the three-test series between the British and Irish Lions came to an end, the wallabies hooker David Porecki has left the game.

The 32-year-old started Australia’s second Test defeat in Melbourne by going 29-26, but suffered concussion and a cut heel, respectively, in the third and first meetings.

Between 2015 and 2020, Porecki played for the Saracens and the London Irish before moving back to Australia to play for the Waratahs. He spent five seasons in England.

After being injured by first-choice skipper Skelton, he won the first of his 21 caps for Australia in 2022 and led the team to three matches of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.