A midfield rebuild has been the main priority for Manchester United but signing a new striker is under consideration.

Benjamin Sesko impressed during his debut season, especially after Michael Carrick replaced Ruben Amorim in January. The Slovenian shared most of the team’s goals with Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.

Carrick turned to Joshua Zirkzee in the last three games of the season due to Sesko sustaining a shin injury. The Dutch attacker failed to impress and speculation is growing over a potential summer exit.

Zirkzee has been linked with a move to Serie A giants Juventus while AS Roma have also shown interest. If he moves on, it looks as though INEOS have decided on a replacement.

Man Utd Monitoring Ollie Watkins

Should Zirkzee move on, signing a new centre-forward becomes somewhat of a necessity and the club could reignite their interest in Ollie Watkins. The Aston Villa striker had been on the Red Devils’ radar before they decided to sign Sesko as their new number nine.

According to SunSport, United are monitoring Watkins’ situation at Villa and if Zirkzee leaves, they will make an “official approach” for the English frontman. Arsenal are also keeping tabs after Fernerbahce planned to make a £30 million bid.

The Turkish giants decided against submitting the offer after Villa made it clear that they wouldn’t accept it. The Villans are thought to be willing to consider offers of around £40 million for the player.

Watkins, described as “exceptional” has two years left on his contract at Villa Park and has been one of the Premier League’s most consistent finishers over the years. Last season, the 30-year-old scored 16 goals in 37 league games despite enduring a rough patch.

Watkins is a Must-Have For Man Utd

If United want to challenge for major honours, Watkins is the type of signing that helps them do so. An experienced striker who has been superb during his time at Villa and is probably the second-best English striker behind Harry Kane.

Sesko is obviously Carrick’s main frontman but adding Watkins to his squad gives him another option who is reliable. That’s not been the case with Zirkzee who managed just two goals in 24 league games last season.

The price might be an issue given the club are looking to sign a third midfielder and potentially a new left-back. But you know what you’re getting from him and that’s goals along with an extensive understanding of the English game.

Oleksandr Usyk watched on as Anthony Joshua survived a huge scare to overcome Kristian Prenga on Saturday evening.

Joshua made his return to the ring this weekend, eight months after he was involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria which took the lives of two of his close friends Sina Ghami and Latif ‘Latz’ Ayodele.

The 36-year-old was easily expected to overcome Prenga in their bout at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia. However, while the bout only lasted two rounds, those two rounds were packed with drama.

Prenga came racing out of the blocks and knocked a shell-shocked Joshua down twice in the opening round.

Joshua regained his composure and asserted his dominance in the second round, and the bout was stopped following a brutal shot that sent Prenga crashing to the canvas.

Oleksandr Usyk’s Reaction to Joshua’s Victory

Credit: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Former undisputed world heavyweight champion Usyk was present in Jeddah to watch Joshua fight. The 39-year-old, who beat Joshua twice earlier this decade, trained alongside his former opponent as he prepared for his fight against Prenga.

Usyk took to Instagram on Saturday afternoon to wish Joshua good luck. He wrote: “Good luck tonight Anthony Joshua. I know how much work you have put into preparing for this fight. Now go out there and do what you came to do. Respect always!”

Ring Magazine have now posted footage showing Usyk’s reaction to Joshua’s victory. The Ukrainian appeared to breathe a huge sign of relief after Joshua’s victory was secured.

Usyk then made his way into the ring and the two shared an emotional embrace, with Joshua saying that ‘it was okay.’

Usyk gave his assessment on Joshua’s performance after his victory. He told talkSPORT: “Anthony Joshua is next undisputed champion. First round it’s a test but AJ is back.

“It’s boxing, [the] big upper cut is good, it’s a knockdown. AJ [come] back and win. Greedy Belly [Fury] will speak now and say weak chin, Greedy Belly get out. AJ wins [against Fury], [he will] knock him out.”

Joshua Praises Prenga and Speak About Fury

Credit: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Joshua was very complimentary of Prenga following the bout. He said, per Sky Sports: “He’s a strong guy and I think Eddie [Hearn] wants to sign him now!

“He is going to do well and has a bright future. Maybe with a bit more experience, he will be up there with the rest of us.

“He is strong and durable and gave me a good test but this is what champions do, we rise. We get knocked down and stand up. That’s life.”

Joshua is now expected to face Tyson Fury next. Speaking about the potential bout, Joshua said: “I am going to rip his heart out. I am the meanest and most vicious champion there has ever been!

“All jokes aside, I respect everything he has done and achieved but we are here now. I hope the fans will be in for a lovely treat.”

Saturday night’s blistering two-round heavyweight shootout between Anthony Joshua and Kristian Prenga was fixed. That’s the view of former Crystal Palace and talkSPORT owner Simon Jordan, who took to social media after the fight to share his theory.

The bout was considered by many to be little more than a warm-up for Joshua ahead of his planned showdown with long-time rival Tyson Fury later this year.

However, within just seconds of the opening bell, ‘AJ’ was fighting for his career after being sent to the canvas with a right uppercut. The Watford man made it back to his feet, but looked to be in real trouble of suffering a first-round defeat.

Anthony Joshua Was Almost Knocked Out By Kristian Prenga

His Albanian opponent seemed to realise it, too, as he marched forward, landing a barrage of blows. Joshua did his best to try and avoid damage, but touched the mat again during the final minute of the round, prompting another count from referee Luis Pabon.

‘AJ’ made it back to his corner, but it hardly looked like the 60-second break would do him much good. The 36-year-old appeared on the verge of being taken out in a loss that would have almost certainly signalled the end of his time in the ring.

Curiously, though, Prenga didn’t seek to force home his advantage in the second round, allowing Joshua to find his way into the fight and ultimately secure a knockout victory with a huge right hand that sent Prenga sprawling to the canvas.

Admittedly, there was a huge gulf in class between the two fighters in terms of their resumes, but Jordan insisted that there was something more sinister behind the dramatic turnaround in the fight.

Conspiracy Theory Emerges on Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga

“Not having that Anthony Joshua fight,” he argued in a post on Twitter. “Dropped twice and sets the tempo [in the second round]. How’s that? Prenga totally different in the 2nd. Something not quite right. All designed to rinse the maximum amount of money.”

Per official numbers from CompuBox, the underdog Prenga only threw 17 punches in the second round before he was stopped, landing with just three. That came after he found the target with 13 of 46 in the first.

While Prenga’s output definitely dropped in the second round, there is no evidence to support Jordan’s theory of the fight being fixed.

Credit: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

However, some fans on social media were in agreement with the controversial radio host.

“That’s got to be the most blatantly fixed fight ever. Prenga drops Joshua twice in round 1, comes out for round 2, doesn’t throw a punch and just lets Joshua punch his head off,” argued one fan.

Another wrote: “Did someone get into Prenga’s ear after the first round to throw that fight? He didn’t throw a single punch in the 2nd round. Fixed.”

A third agreed: “Something very sus about this. Geezer was battering Joshua then 2nd round came and he didn’t wanna know! Fixed to max!”

Others, though, were quick to shoot down Jordan’s statement.

“AJ took an uppercut (by a fighter with 20 KO wins),” began one reply. “[He was a] little rusty and came back. His jab clearly warned off Prenga, and he did some damage before the knockout. Not everything has to be a conspiracy!”

“Bit too deep Simon. Was just a fight,” declared another response. AJ got whacked, and then 2nd round, whacked the other guy out. You can’t script/fake what happened in that fight.”

A final comment pointed out: “The aftermath felt genuine. Very hard to orchestrate a heavyweight boxing match.”

With Joshua now set to move on to a money-spinning bout with Fury, it is highly unlikely that Prenga will ever get the chance to share the ring with ‘AJ’ again, especially given the shock that he almost caused.