Rio Ferdinand has praised a Manchester United forward despite their slow start, comparing them to one of his ex-United team-mates.
It would be fair to say Manchester United’s out-and-out striking options have not consistently found the back of the net so far in the Premier League this season. It is an area of the pitch that saw numerous reinforcements brought in over the summer, arguably taking away from positions that may have required an upgrade more urgently.
Over the past few seasons, United’s strikers have struggled to find success in terms of goalscoring. Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee and even the latter stages of Marcus Rashford’s time at Old Trafford were a disappointment.
The blame cannot be shifted solely onto Rúben Amorim, as coaches before him have also struggled in this department. In fact, credit could be awarded to Amorim for transforming the role of a striker on his side, which has required a lot more creativity.
Pundits have also recognised this, and Rio Ferdinand, in particular, has commented on a certain individual brought in during the summer window who he thinks greatly benefits the team when he plays, despite his poor goalscoring record.
Ferdinand believes Šeško offers more than just goals
Benjamin Šeško, who has been described as “powerful”, has only managed to find himself on the scoresheet for United twice this season, and has not lived up to the goalscoring expectations many fans had of him after his £74 million move from RB Leipzig in the summer.
After his return from injury against Aston Villa, fans and pundits were concerned about the forward’s lack of end product after the Slovenian missed two big chances during the game. However, Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand, has heaped praise on the 21-year-old, despite his slow start.
Speaking on his YouTube podcast, Ferdinand said: “Šeško [offers more] than [just] goals. Yes, the strikers will be judged on their goals, but internally, sometimes there are things that they bring to the table that you go, ‘You know what, that is huge’.
“You know who was like that? Louis Saha. He was never going to win the Golden Boot at Manchester United. But in terms of his value to the team, he was a joke, some of the stuff that he would do to enable others to play better.”
The former England international also went on to urge fans to stick with their marquee signing but to judge him off his overall game: “Forget goals with him,” he said.
“His all-round game… I was sitting there sometimes going, ‘Oh my God, I’m so happy he’s on our team’. Manchester United haven’t had a striker who can just hold it up or flick it on for ages. Like just a simple little thing but effective.”
Is Šeško the future?
After what is an undoubtedly underwhelming start for the 6’5″ striker, some United fans have rightfully become sceptical about whether splashing £74m was a wise choice when other areas of the pitch needed strengthening.
However, it’s easy to forget how young Šeško is and how he is clearly still adapting to life in England, which is a huge switch from Germany, as we have seen with many strikers who have made this move before him.
Ferdinand’s comments also hold a lot of truth, as the Slovenian arrived at Old Trafford with a reputation of being an imposing figure who was also good technically.
Šeško has been unlucky since joining the Red Devils, being plagued by injury throughout his spell and never really having the chance to find his feet by starting in a string of successful matches for the side.
Amorim made it clear that Šeško is not fully fit, and he is looking to ease him back into the squad before the game against Newcastle, but it seems he will be forced to play due to other absences throughout the team.
Fans will be able to properly judge the striker based on United’s overall attacking fluidity when he is in the squad and how many chances he scores and creates by the end of the season.
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 14:00 pm (GMT) on the United View YouTube channel.