Manchester United will assess Benjamin Sesko ahead of Monday night’s Premier League clash with Bournemouth as Ruben Amorim still awaits a final decision on whether Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui can play.
Striker Sesko has been sidelined for more than a month now after suffering a knee injury during United’s dramatic 2-2 draw away at Tottenham on November 8.
Amorim said afterwards that the Slovenian international would be out for a “few weeks”, though excitement over an earlier-than-expected return for Sesko was sparked after his agent Elvis Basanovic said this week: “Benjamin is feeling very well. His rehabilitation is progressing according to plan.
“It’s hard to say precisely when he will return. That will be up to the medical staff and the manager, but I think we’ll see him back on the pitch very soon. Maybe even sooner than expected.”
Sesko does now look to be over his injury, but has been laid low by a bout of illness this week that could delay his comeback.
“We have to see if he’s available,” Amorim said on Friday. “He had some [food] poisoning, but we’ll see. Let’s wait. We have two trainings still.”
Sesko’s absence initially led to a run in the team for the previously little-used Joshua Zirkzee, though Amorim deployed Matheus Cunha as the central figure in attack for Monday’s 4-1 demolition of rock-bottom Wolves at Molineux, supported by Mason Mount and Mbeumo.
That seems unlikely to change against Bournemouth, if Sesko is out again or not fit to start and if Mbeumo is indeed available for a game that takes place on the same (delayed) date as clubs have to release players for the latest edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Amorim revealed on Friday that United were still in talks with the respective national federations to see if Cameroon’s Mbeumo, Morocco’s Mazraoui and Ivory Coast’s Amad would be available for one final club game before departing for AFCON, which starts on December 21.
“I expect today to have a decision or maybe tomorrow but we are waiting until the last moment to have all the players available, to choose the best team to start the game,” he said on Friday.
Two United players who will definitely not feature against Bournemouth are defenders Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt.
Maguire has been out with a hamstring injury since the same Spurs game in which Sesko was hurt, while De Ligt picked up what has now been confirmed as a back issue before the recent draw with West Ham and also sat out the win at Wolves despite being expected to return.
Amorim surprisingly started teenager Ayden Heaven in defence once more at Molineux despite his struggles against West Ham that saw him booked and taken off at half-time, though the likes of Leny Yoro and the fit-again Lisandro Martinez will now be pushing to come in.
“Maguire is out, De Ligt is out,” Amorim said. “I think he [De Ligt] has something in his back, I don’t know for sure. Sometimes you see it’s not a big injury because he finished the game quite well against Crystal Palace, but he has some pain.
“You sometimes think it will be solved during this week, but sometimes he feels a little bit of pain and we have to be a little careful with that.”
Predicted Manchester United XI (3-4-2-1): Lammens; Mazraoui, Yoro, Shaw; Amad, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dalot; Mbeumo, Mount; Cunha
Injured: Maguire, De Ligt
Doubt: Sesko
Uncertain: Mazraoui, Amad, Mbeumo
Time and date: 8pm GMT on Monday December 15, 2025
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
How to watch: Sky Sports
