The Red Devils have beaten Newcastle to the signing of the RB Leipzig hitman, who models himself on Erling Haaland and Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Manchester United first set their eyes upon Benjamin Sesko when he was just 16 years old, and even had the chance to snap him up for a pittance. They didn't take it, though, instead leaving Red Bull Salzburg to sign the Slovenian teenager in the summer of 2019 for just €2.5 million.
Meanwhile in 2022, Erik ten Hag's first summer in charge, the Red Devils had another look at Sesko, but again balked at the price, which had by then risen to €24m for a player who had only one season of top-flight football under his belt in the Austrian Bundesliga. Instead, Sesko agreed to jump ship to fellow Red Bull franchise RB Leipzig, although he did not make the move until the following year, which is when United signed Rasmus Hojlund for up to £72m.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to miss out on a promising and prolific striker once may be regarded as a misfortune, to miss out twice looks like carelessness. But six years after first failing to sign the player once billed as the next Erling Haaland, United have, at the third time of asking, finally secured a deal to get Sesko to Old Trafford.
Having organised a secret trip to Germany, led by head of recruitment Christopher Vivell, who brought Sesko to Leipzig when he was the Bundesliga side's technical director, to try and get the deal done, United are now set to pay a huge price for their earlier indecision, with Leipzig having accepted an offer of an initial £66.5m ($89m), plus £7.5m ($10m) in achievable add-ons, for the 22-year-old, who was also being pursued by Newcastle.
Yet, despite the big fee and some concern that United could be about to make the same mistake they made with Hojlund by signing a costly 'project' in favour of a proven Premier League striker like Ollie Watkins, there is a lot of excitement about the striker heading to the red side of Manchester and completing Ruben Amorim's new-look attack…
Getty Where it all began
Sesko received his early football education in his hometown of Radece and began making waves in Slovenian football when he was barely a teenager, as he scored a stunning 59 goals in 23 matches for second division outfit Krsko's Under-15s side in the 2017-18 season. He subsequently joined two-time national champions NK Domzale, but far bigger clubs came calling just a year later as Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund all expressed their interest. So too did United, who tabled a bid of £1m for the then-16-year-old.
But it was Salzburg, who a year earlier had snapped up another precociously talented and physically imposing striker in Haaland, who appealed the most to Sesko and his representatives.
"The biggest clubs in Europe tried to get him. The interest in him was huge; I have never seen anything like it before," said Sesko's agent Elvis Basanovic at the time. "We had a lot of offers from really big clubs. Had we decided on the money, Benjamin would have moved to England or Italy. But we decided to look at the bigger picture and the Salzburg project."
Unlike Haaland, however, Sesko was considered too young and raw for the Salzburg first team upon arrival, and while the Norwegian was tearing it up in the top-flight and scoring against the likes of Liverpool in the Champions League, the Slovenian was drafted into Salzburg's reserve side, FC Liefering, who play in the Austrian second division. Sesko initially struggled to cope with the jump from youth to senior football and scored only one goal in 15 appearances in his first campaign. However, he got to grips with the level soon enough and netted 21 times in his second season.
AdvertisementGetty The big break
Sesko became Slovenia's youngest-ever player when he made his debut in June 2021 against North Macedonia, the day after his 18th birthday, and four months later, he became his country's youngest-ever scorer when he struck against Malta. That same year he was promoted to Salzburg's first team for the 2021-22 season, and at the end of the campaign he secured a move to Leipzig, despite only scoring five goals in the Austrian top flight.
He considerably improved on those numbers in his final season at Salzburg, scoring 16 league goals and setting up a further four, and by the time he left Austria for Germany, Sesko had averaged a goal or an assist every two games.
After an underwhelming debut season at Leipzig, Sesko suddenly hit a ruthless vein of form, scoring in each of his side's final seven league games. He also became the youngest player to score in seven consecutive games in the Bundesliga as his goal glut helped fire Leipzig to a fourth-placed finish in the table and a return to the Champions League.
How it's going
Sesko's hot streak increased the hype around him ahead of Euro 2024, although he underwhelmed at the tournament, failing to score in any of Slovenia's four games while missing two big chances in the last-16 tie against Portugal, which his side eventually lost on penalties.
Back on the domestic front, highlights of his second season at Leipzig included doubles against Juventus and Augsburg as well as a long-range trivela against Bayern Munich. He also provided an assist as Leipzig beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 to end the then Bundesliga champions' 43-game unbeaten run. The season ended in disappointment, however, as Leipzig finished sixth in the league and failed to qualify for European football for the first time in nine years.
There was some disappointment over Sesko's season too – he scored 13 league goals compared to 14 strikes in his debut campaign despite starting an additional 13 matches. Nonetheless, there was big expectation that he would make a big-money move in the summer, one year after signing a long-term deal with Leipzig which protected his value.
Arsenal were seen as the main candidates to buy him, but instead opted for Viktor Gyokeres, leaving United and Newcastle to battle for his signature. And though the Magpies offered more money than the Red Devils, the lure of playing at Old Trafford was enough to convince Sesko to join Amorim's project at United.
Getty Images SportBiggest strengths
Sesko is an ideal build for a striker, standing at 6'4 (193cm) and boasting huge physical strength. He also has electric pace, famously clocking the same top speed as Kylian Mbappe when he was breaking through at Salzburg.
His pace and power makes him a formidable force running in between the lines and onto through balls, while Sesko also has impressive dribbling ability for a player of his size. The forward's ball-striking ability, which has led to him scoring a large number of long-range goals, also stands out.
"He’s extremely quick, has a great jump on him and is strong in the air. Benjamin is a real goal-scorer, who despite his height, is mobile and technically strong," is how Vivell described Sesko when unveiling him as a new signing for Leipzig. "His abilities make him a special player with a special profile."