RUBEN AMORIM admits striker Benjamin Sesko is “struggling” for Manchester United and is “not relaxed” about his poor goalscoring record.
Sesko, 23, has managed two goals in 11 appearances for United since he arrived from RB Leipzig in a £73.62million deal in August.
United great Gary Neville said Sesko is “miles off it” compared with fellow summer signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, who both had Premier League experience prior to their moves.
Sesko has replaced Rasmus Hojlund, who is only three months older and joined United for an identical fee in July 2023.
The parallels have continued in front of goal as Hojlund only mustered three goals in his first 11 games for United.
However, Amorim is calm about Sesko’s development and is convinced the Slovenia international will succeed.
Amorim said: “I’m relaxed. He’s not relaxed. What I mean is that I understand how things are in football and he’s going to struggle. That is normal.
“He has no experience here and then the first impact when everyone says that you are so good, you are the next big thing – and you hear about that with Sesko.
“And then you come to one club that is the hardest club. If you don’t perform every week, you are going to hear a lot of things from club legends, from pundits, from the media, and sometimes they are right.
“To have the ability to understand that is normal and still maintain your level of confidence is really hard for a young kid, especially for a young kid that is a control freak, wants to control everything. And he’s not going to control everything.
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“So I know – and I say that when I start training with Ben – he has more potential than I was thinking.
“He’s going to struggle and we need to understand how he likes to play also to put in our ideas.
“So everything, I think I’m quite relaxed with that.
“He is going to be our striker for the long term. But he’s going to have these struggles and these bumps during the ride, and that is a normal thing in football.”
United sources say Sesko arrives at 8am for 9am training sessions and tends to leave at 4pm, around two hours later than the time that players are permitted to leave.
Senior sources at the club believe Sesko is an upgrade on Hojlund as his link-up play complements Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system better.
Amorim did not take umbrage with Neville’s comments about Sesko, saying: “Of course, nobody likes to hear, but he struggled a little bit, and that is a fact.
“So let’s embrace that. It’s not personal, it’s not nothing. That is what I try to explain to the players. That it is not personal.
“It’s an opinion that is going to change in three weeks. Everything that is true today, in three weeks, could be a lie.
“So of course, it’s hard to hear, but my advice to Ben is you are going to get used. And then it’s going to be natural.
“It’s going to be like you’re here [every] Monday. So that is part of the process and we are going to help him and we are going to protect Ben because he works really hard and we want to succeed.
“So he’s going to succeed.”
Amorim also indicated his preference for Casemiro and Harry Maguire to stay at United beyond this season.
Casemiro, 33, is approaching the final seven months of his contract but the club has the option of an additional year.
Maguire, 32, is out of contract in June and discussions have already taken place about a potential renewal.
Casemiro is one of three United players who earn more than £300,000 a week and it remains highly unlikely that the club would keep him on those terms.
When asked about Casemiro’s future, Amorim said: “We don’t know what is going to happen.
“My goal is to continue to count on Casemiro, with Harry Maguire, [who] has the same problem.
“I don’t know what is going to happen. Let’s focus on this season.
“I’m really happy with Casemiro, he is really important. I’m really happy with Harry.
“But I know what you guys are asking, let’s focus on this season and then we’ll see the next season.”
