Benjamin Sesko's first Manchester United season - 'We always knew we were buying a player with growth'

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United felt that Sesko’s representatives did not want him to move too England too young, knowing that if he did well, these big clubs would always come back for him. It proved a smart plan. They finally landed their man last summer and at the end of his first season, The Athletic has spoken to people, speaking anonymously, who know and work with him to get a sense of how he has performed. Sesko was considered a “machine” by United in all those scoutings. He was 1.95 metres tall, tough and fast. Research into Sesko’s personality was positive. He was keen to learn, grounded. That’s not a given. United have looked at and even met strikers in recent years whose demeanour and attitude has been so poor that the club didn’t want to do a deal. Not Sesko, as United found out in 2025 when they finally got their man. After a first season in the Premier League, Sesko can look back and smile. Still only 22, he’s scored 11 league goals and one in United’s only FA Cup game. Sounds impressive enough, but those goals came from only 1,817 minutes. And 10 of the 12 goals have come since Christmas. This is a player on the rise. Sesko has been managed well by United, but then good management has been key to his career so far, supplementing his obvious talents. Even at 16 he was considered expensive and hard to sign. He had joined the Red Bull group of clubs three days after his 16th birthday on a three-year professional contract with Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian top flight. Erling Haaland had also progressed via the same club, though he was 19 when he moved to Austria. Sesko was signed early because Red Bull, like United, knew his raw talent was obvious and that there are not many No 9s around like him. Because of that, even if he wasn’t to make it, there would always be takers. United got a series of ‘no thanks’. And, frustrating as it seemed, it made sense. For the player, he was better developing in the Austrian Bundesliga while still a teen, then making the step up to the German Bundesliga in the same group of clubs. That league is regarded as a perfect step towards a super club: youngers players get a chance at a high level in a front of some of football’s biggest crowds.  It suited everyone to play the long game. Sesko’s club had an appreciating goalscoring asset, he was very well paid and given a first-team contract at a young age. It wasn’t in his interest to go too big too soon and join a huge club. Better to rise incrementally, better financially too. Sesko may have been considered expensive when he was a teen, but nothing like the €76.5 million (£66.4m; $89.1m, at the time) Manchester United eventually paid. Ahead of the purchase last summer when their target chose Old Trafford over a move to Newcastle United, Man United felt that he had all the attributes a top striker should have. That he was physically strong enough, able to play alone as a No 9. He was considered someone who pressed well from the front, was intelligent in his play. But there was also a realism about his first term. United’s internal recruitment team said that if he got into double figures for goals this term he would be doing well. He’s done that. It has not been a perfect season and there has been plenty of upheaval with the sacking of head coach Ruben Amorim in January, at which point Sesko had scored only twice. “You could see the potential in Sesko after he arrived but the goals weren’t quite coming. He’s quick, naturally athletic, good in the air. As a defender you do not want him running into space near you. But it’s also tough when you just arrive in a new league and country and you’re a young lad,” says former United defender Wes Brown. “I watched him carefully and I could tell he was a footballer playing with a bit of stress. Not now. Michael Carrick has put an arm around him and he looks confident whereas he didn’t before. He expresses himself. He plays without fear. We didn’t see that much under Amorim, for whatever reason. But we are now.” The feeling within the club is that Sesko is learning, improving and that he will get more consistent. They feel the creative players behind him trust him to make the right movements. Those players think he can sometimes make something out of nothing by getting on the end of their passes. There’s a lot of pressure on Sesko, but people who know him says he’s grounded, that he’s mature for his age, less naive than other strikers of a similar age. Those attributes give those around him more confidence in him. Team-mates don’t think he’ll get carried away with success or spit his dummy out when things don’t go well.  So what’s he like personally and professionally? “Amazing kid, very conscientious, wants to be the best version of himself, the ultimate professional,” one senior figure at Manchester United tells The Athletic. “If there’s anything he can do to improve his performance, he’ll be doing it. He comes in early to prepare for training, he’s got his routine. He’ll do anything to be a better player. He’s smart, very self-aware. It’s a super strength, but it can be a weakness if overplayed. He cares — he really cares — and really wants to do well. He’s got all the attributes to be an amazing, amazing No 9 for Man United. “He’s got pace, power, finishing with both feet, technically good, but like all players, one of the things that I think Michael (Carrick) has done well is phase him in. Ben came in as this big hope with expectations around him. Ben would have felt that. Michael has just looked after him, brought him on, watched him score goals, amazing goals. You can see him growing in confidence month on month. We always knew that we were buying a player with growth.” Sesko, like any new boy, has had to find his way in a dressing room, find a sense of belonging. He’s good friends with Diogo Dalot and they share those driven personality traits. “I think that the first year is always a year of adaptation, right?” Casemiro said recently. “But this year they are already doing well. Ben (Sesko) is doing well, Senne (Lammens) too, Matheus (Cunha), Bryan (Mbeumo).” One of Sesko’s most important goals was the winner at Everton in February. “I’m getting settled in the league from game to game,” he said after. “I’m not even thinking about, ‘I have to start, I have to start’. For me it’s just whenever coach decides to put me there one time or not I’m just going to be there. If I get the next minutes, five minutes, I’m going to use them and for me it’s just about trying to enjoy and delivering for the team. “For me the way I look at the pressure it’s something that if I want to be a good player it’s something that I must have. I take it as a privilege. It’s something that has (to be there) if you want to play at the highest level and it’s about accepting it and not really caring about it.” Sesko, with 45 Slovenia caps to his name, won’t be going to the World Cup as they did not qualify. He can rest up in time for his next season in the Premier League, hoping it’ll be even more productive than his first.   Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms