In Benjamin Šeško, Manchester United have one of the most talented and unique attackers in Europe. He is yet to open his account in a United shirt, but it’s only a matter of time until that happens.
Manchester United fended off serious interest from Newcastle United in the summer to sign the highly-touted Benjamin Šeško in a deal worth an initial £66.4 million.
After missing out on Liam Delap to Chelsea, Ruben Amorim was said to be keen on signing Ollie Watkins, but United’s recruitment department opted to move for Šeško instead, with United’s director of recruitment Christopher Vivell said to have had significant involvement in the deal.
United had long been admirers of Šeško and were keen on bringing him to Old Trafford in 2024 before he ultimately decided to extend his contract at RB Leipzig. Prior to that, the club also tried to sign him in the summer of 2022 when he was at RB Salzburg.
Šeško has made a slow start to his career at Old Trafford, but he has shown some very positive glimpses in the limited minutes he’s played so far.
Šeško’s qualities are clear
Benjamin Šeško is an incredibly unique profile. He’s tall and has an incredible vertical jump. The Slovenian striker is also lightning fast, and his ball-striking is spectacular.
While Amorim’s preference was well known to be Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, Šeško actually suits his system, at least in its current state, almost perfectly. Under Amorim, United often go long; therefore, having a target man up the pitch to win the initial aerial duel is crucial.
As seen against Chelsea when Šeško’s header sent Bryan Mbeumo through on goal 1v1 against Robert Sanchez, having a striker so dominant in the air can be of significant value when adapting a more direct style of play.
In the box from crosses, Šeško is also dominant and showed glimpses of that in United’s 3-2 win against Burnley when he came close to finding the back of the net on two occasions with headers.
Šeško is also very good at running the channels, which is essential for the centre-forward in Amorim’s system. He is extremely quick, and his size and height enable him to use his body to hold off defenders.
The Šeško game isn’t only about explosiveness, though. At RB Leipzig, he demonstrated his ability to drop into deeper positions and link the play.
How should Šeško be deployed?
As mentioned above, Šeško was occasionally asked to drop deep and link the play at Leipzig. That is not really his game, however. He can do it to a good standard, but he is at his best on the last line, where he can make runs in behind to get on the end of through balls.
He has the pace and power to outmuscle and outpace a lot of centre-backs. This skillset really does suit what Ruben Amorim wants from a centre-forward.
United doesn’t really build up, and even when they attempt to, they still end up going long. Whether this approach to playing can lead to sustainable long-term success is a very valid question. However, it’s a style of play that suits Šeško very well. He is aerial dominant and won nearly 60% of his aerial duels in the Bundesliga last season.
He can win the initial aerial duel from the long-ball and is also capable of taking it down on his chest and holding up the ball. That flicked on header against Chelsea, which sent Mbeumo through on goal and led to Robert Sanchez getting a red card, wasn’t a flash in the pan, by the way.
Those flicked-on headers were something Sesko also did on a regular basis at RB Leipzig.
The United stars who could unlock Sesko
Over the years, the centre-forward position at Manchester United has gained a reputation as being a thankless task. It has become a common theme. No matter who the manager is, United just seem incapable of providing reliable service to their striker.
Manchester United now have Bryan Mbeumo, although in the past they had wingers whose first instinct was to shoot rather than pass. That’s not to say Mbeumo isn’t a goalscorer. He scored 20 in the Premier League last season and will shoot when he finds himself in the right position.
That being said, if the ‘special‘ star is pulled slightly wider, he won’t try to force himself into a position to shoot. He’ll instead look to create.
He was one of the most creative forwards in the Premier League last season and is an elite crosser. As mentioned above, Šeško is dominant in the air, and if you put crosses into the right areas, he will find the back of the net regularly. The partnership between the former Leipzig striker and the Cameroon international has the potential to develop into something special.
Bruno Fernandes has consistently been the most creative player in the Premier League since he arrived in England in January 2020. As mentioned above, Šeško likes to operate on the last line and make runs in behind to latch onto through balls.
Fernandes is excellent at playing passes to access the space in behind, whether that be with a threaded through ball or a lofted pass over the top. Over time, as they play more together and as the Portuguese international starts to get a better feel for Šeško’s movement, those two could form a formidable duo.
Avoiding past mistakes
No matter what the general consensus around him was when he left to join Napoli in the summer, Rasmus Hojlund arrived at Manchester United as one of the brightest centre-forward prospects in Europe.
He showed a lot of promise in his first season at Old Trafford, too, finding the back of the net on 16 occasions.
In his second season, still young and needing to be developed, he drowned in a dysfunctional set-up. From day one, he was asked to be United’s main source of goals, and that is a daunting task for most strikers in world football, let alone a 20-year-old who arrived in Manchester with less than 30 goals at senior level in club football.
United need to handle Šeško’s development carefully and can’t afford to make the same mistakes they did with Hojlund. The 22-year-old is too talented not to develop into a world-class striker. He had other options, but he chose United. The club cannot let him down.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.