THERE is nothing remotely surprising about Benjamin Sesko’s start at Manchester United.
Two goals in 11 matches – seven of them starts – is a derisory return from a striker that United have invested nearly £74million in.
Sesko, 23, was born three months after Rasmus Hojlund. He also played in Austria before moving to one of Europe’s big five leagues.
Hojlund, after 11 United games, had tallied three goals. The parallels have continued with the Denmark international no longer on the scene at United.
Hojlund has got four goals in eight games on loan at Napoli, a relatively insignificant statistic. Serie A has been in decline for nearly 20 years, dating back to the Calciopoli scandal in 2006.
Last season, Napoli signed Philip Billing on loan from Bournemouth midway through the season. That’s the current champions in Italy, synonymous with Diego Maradona, looking to the tiniest club in the Premier League for a mid-season boost.
But the Hojlund stat will matter to Sesko. Hojlund netted a laudable 16 goals in his first season with United and they may have as few as 29 more matches this term.
At Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Sesko was berated by Bruno Fernandes inside five minutes for mishitting a shot. Fernandes was running onto the pull-back perfectly and Sesko did not leave the ball for him.
There was a swift shot that went well wide and a miscontrol from Sesko after Murillo failed to cut out Bryan Mbeumo’s curved pass.
“He’s well off it compared to the other summer signings that Man United made up front in [Matheus] Cunha and Mbeumo,” Gary Neville said.
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“He looks awkward, he had a couple of really good opportunities in the first half. When balls got played over the top and his touch wasn’t quite right.
“For £80m, you can say he’s young, or has a lot of potential and he’s only just settling in, but you still want to see a bit more.”
A cursory glance at Neville’s comments on social media suggest sections of United’s online following are up in arms. Not that they are a credible gauge. They backed Hojlund, too.
Ultimately, a United striker will be judged on his goals and two in 11 is nowhere near good enough.
“Obviously, we know Ben will be judged by scoring goals or not,” Fernandes said just over a week ago. “But apart [from] that, he’s been doing great, whatever he’s being asked to do.
“He’s got his goals already, and I think now it’s going to come more and more because he’s more than capable of scoring goals.
“Ben is very eager to learn and that’s very good from someone that has done very well in the Bundesliga and everything.
“He came with the biggest price tag. But in his mind, he’s like, I want to learn, I want to become better.
“Then on the weekends, he transforms himself into a different person on the pitch.
“He’s someone that is like, ‘I know what I have to do. I want to score goals. I’m going to get into the box, I’m going to get into duels. I’m going to win my headers’. And that’s very important for us.”
Sources at United have stressed how much more compatible Sesko is than Hojlund. Whether they were sitting in the dugout or the directors’ box, staff despaired at Hojlund’s naivety.
Sesko is not a novice. He turns 24 in May and has played in a European Championship with Slovenia.
He is old enough to have rejected United. He did so, at the age of 19, in 2022.
More relevant than United’s decision to return to Sesko is that he was their fourth-choice striker target – at best.
Liam Delap, United’s principal target, had a £30m release clause. United have forked out more than double that for Sesko, only four months younger than the Chelsea frontman.
Viktor Gyokeres had his heart set on Arsenal and Aston Villa would not budge on Ollie Watkins. So United turned to an attainable big-money striker in the market.
That has heaped more pressure on Sesko. United also stressed the benefit of recruiting Premier League specialists in Cunha and Mbeumo. Sesko isn’t, so an element of patience was always bound to be required.
Sesko could hardly have had a worse full debut than Grimsby away. He skied a chance in added time to spare United’s blushes and then every outfield teammate took a penalty before him in the shootout.
United clarified Sesko had cramp yet it was still an unflattering look for a goalscorer who had been presented to the Old Trafford crowd only 18 days earlier.
Sesko had two goals in as many games before Ruben Amorim dropped him for the victory at Liverpool, a call so surprising that it rattled Arne Slot before a ball had been kicked.
That tactic worked like a dream and Sesko still emerged to play a key role in United’s victory. It was his through ball for Cunha that led to the corner Harry Maguire eventually headed in the winning goal from.
But against Brighton, Sesko fluffed a fine first-half chance through a heavy first touch and a heavier second that endangered spectators.
Afterwards, he celebrated his first assist in an Instagram post. That is typical of a Gen Z footballer.
We shouldn’t be surprised.
