A former scout has revealed three improvements Benjamin Sesko must make in order to succeed at Manchester United and in the Premier League.
Manchester United have taken a significant step in their pursuit of RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, submitting an official bid worth £65 million, with an additional £9 million in potential add-ons.
The move aligns with Ruben Amorim’s priority to bring in a top-level centre-forward this summer to compliment the new additions of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.
Newcastle had also been in the race for Sesko, having tabled a £78 million offer for the 22-year-old Slovenian international earlier this week. Both clubs reached initial agreements on personal terms with the player.
However, according to multiple reports, Sesko has now made his decision and has chosen to join United over Newcastle, even though the latter has Champions League football to offer.
A deal with Leipzig is yet to be finalised, but United are now in pole position to secure his signature to bring in yet another exciting forward.
Scout reveals three improvements Sesko must make at United
Sesko has not suddenly burst onto the scene. In fact, United were among the clubs looking at him before he signed for RB Salzburg at 16.
Oliver Durr Dehnhardt, head of football strategy at scouting platform Eyeball and former scout for Ajax and Copenhagen, has followed Sesko’s journey very closely.
Speaking in an interview with MailSport, Dehnhardt explained that Sesko’s abilities right now makes him a ‘valuable asset’ for teams who attack in transitions.
But he added that the player needs to improve in various areas to excel in the Premier League, where you are not always afforded the chance to attack in transitions constantly.
“Sesko has the potential to become one of the best and most complete strikers in the game,” Dehnhardt said. “He is tall, physically dominant and excellent in the air. For his size, he shows great acceleration and an impressive top speed. He can finish powerfully with either foot.
“That makes him a valuable asset for teams who attack in transition – similar to Haaland when he was at Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund.
“Though he has a decent technical package, I believe he needs to improve his link-up play. To reach the next level, he needs more balance to his game.
“I would be interested to see how he would adapt to playing in a possession-based team, where space in attack is tighter. He needs to learn to work across the front line and find space in different pockets. I think it’s quite similar to the transition Haaland needed to make when he moved from Dortmund to Manchester City.”
United players can thrive in transition
There are obviously concerns within the United fanbase about paying so much for potential after being stung by the signing of Rasmus Højlund.
But at least Sesko will not have the same burden as the Dane. There are enough options to allow him to come out of the firing line and also a better attack to aid him.
Dehnhardt highlighting Sesko’s ability in transition is interesting. Even though United want to start dominating the play more, the have some extremely useful counter-attacking weapons at their disposal.
Mbeumo was excellent in those situations for Brentford and Cunha also thrives on the break. We all know that Bruno Fernandes can facilitate those moves.
Even though Sesko, and United, need to improve in their general play, it is certainly useful to think that they can start blowing teams away on the transition rather than continually waste those chances.
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.