- Benjamin Sesko enjoyed positive first Man Utd season
- Slovenian scored 11 Premier League goals
- Sesko wants to emulate ex-Red Devils striker
Benjamin Sesko will be satisfied with his debut season as a Manchester United player, in the circumstances. And following a slow start in the first half of the campaign, United fans have grown satisfied with the 22-year-old throughout a prolific second half.
Considering the Red Devils only played 40 matches and sacked head coach Ruben Amorim at the halfway mark, Sesko’s return of 12 goals is respectable. He netted 11 times in 30 league games, but only 17 were starts. It is an average of a goal every 148 minutes.
Sesko is among the players who United supporters will be most excited to watch next season. The Slovenian has the mentality, work ethic and physical and athletic qualities to make a success of himself at Old Trafford. His newly revealed idol was similar 10 years ago.
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Sesko follows in Ibrahimovic’s footsteps
Sesko was long linked with United before he finally arrived from RB Leipzig in a £74million deal last summer. In a new interview with GIVEMESPORT, he shared that the long-standing interest was mutual.
“It started already a couple of years ago that they really wanted me. And then now I just really wanted to come here. I wanted to challenge myself – I wanted to become a member of that club, and I’m so happy about it.”
The Stretford End is not new to serenading a towering, hard-as-nails striker. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 2016/17 season was among the best from a United goalscorer in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
The iconic Swede landed in Manchester on a free transfer and helped Jose Mourinho lift the League Cup and Europa League with 26 goals and eight assists. Sesko would have been 13 during that campaign, and he now wants to emulate Ibrahimovic.
“I looked up to Ibrahimović because he was amazing. But also football in general. Skills, goals. Things I tried to copy in the garden or on the street. It didn’t matter if it was really hot in the summer, I just wanted to get better all the time.”
Man Utd must support Sesko
Sesko will back himself to improve next season and relish the opportunity to return to the Champions League stage. Despite his status as a young striker, he has already made 28 appearances in Europe’s premier competition.
But with the increased workload beyond the summer, United must avoid the same mistake they made with the No. 30’s predecessor, Rasmus Hojlund. He cannot shoulder the goal-scoring burden alone.
With Joshua Zirkzee likely to leave in the coming months, Michael Carrick needs to recruit another striker to support and compete with Sesko. An experienced frontman who would not object to a rotational role has been mooted.
If United give Sesko an environment in which to thrive, there is a feeling he has what it takes to propel his name alongside some of the club’s great strikers.
