Manchester United’s chances of signing wonderkid Benjamin Sesko have been dealt a blow amid reports he wants to stay at Red Bull Salzburg for another season.
Sesko has caught the eye of scouts all across Europe by contributing 10 goals and seven assists across all competitions for Salzburg last season. The 19-year-old Slovenia international has generated lots of speculation in recent weeks, with United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain among those monitoring his progress.
United are looking for reinforcements in attacking positions this summer, after losing Edinson Cavani on a free transfer and with Mason Greenwood unavailable. A hamstring injury to Anthony Martial, which will keep him out of Sunday’s Premier League opener against Brighton, and Cristiano Ronaldo ’s desire to leave means Erik ten Hag needs more options.
It seems as though a deal for Sesko is off the cards this summer, though, with Sky Sports Austria reporting that he plans to stay put with Salzburg for the 2022/23 season, in order to develop his game further before making a big-money transfer. After starting his career in Norway, Erling Haaland rose to prominence with Salzburg and Sesko is being encouraged to take a similar path.
“That’s Sesko’s plan,” said Sky Austria reporter, Marko Stankovic. “Next year at the latest we will talk to him about a really good transfer.”
Haaland and Sesko are not the only successes of the Salzburg system; Karim Adeyemi is another young forward who developed his game in Austria before moving on. Like Sesko, the 20-year-old was linked with a move to the Premier League, but opted to join Borussia Dortmund in May. He made his debut in their 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
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When Sesko does move, United will face another potential hurdle, with RB Leipzig holding a clear advantage over their rivals to land the striker. As part of the Red Bull group the two clubs have a history of trading players and Fabrizio Romano has reported that Leipzig director Oliver Mintzlaff met with Sesko’s agent Elvis Basanovic on Saturday to discuss a move.
Sesko’s recent explosion onto the scene comes as a blow to United, who could have signed the striker three years ago for a knock-down price. According to The Athletic, United were offered the chance to sign him for just £2.5million when he was 16 but rejected the move. He is now worth closer to £50m, according to reports.
Sesko already has two goals in 13 caps for Slovenia and showed he can mix it against strong defences by scoring a very tidy goal in Salzburg’s 1-0 friendly win over Liverpool in pre-season last month.
