Michael Owen expects Benjamin Sesko to be handed a bigger role at Manchester United very soon and believes it would be surprising if the striker remains on the bench for much longer, especially ahead of Sunday’s derby clash with Manchester City.
Sesko became one of United’s marquee signings of the summer, arriving from RB Leipzig in a £73million move. The 22-year-old was added late in the window after Newcastle pushed hard for his signature, linking up with his new teammates just days before the Premier League opener against Arsenal.
Since then, the Slovenian forward has mainly featured as a substitute in the league, with his only start coming in the Carabao Cup — a match United embarrassingly lost to League Two side Grimsby Town. Manager Ruben Amorim has so far taken a cautious approach, insisting on giving Sesko time to adapt to English football and adjust to his new surroundings.
Mason Mount has been starting in attack ahead of Sesko but is unavailable for the trip to the Etihad due to injury. With that in mind, fans are eager to see the big-money signing finally given a chance to lead the line.
Owen, however, believes Amorim would have already thrown Sesko into the starting XI if his training performances had been spectacular.
‘He came in reasonably late,’ Owen told Metro.
‘If he were absolutely tearing up trees in training, if he was banging goals in left, right, and centre and looking unbelievable, then Amorim would be thinking, “geez, we just got to get him in straight away.”
‘But he’s probably taking a little bit of time to find his feet and find his fitness and things like that. Manchester United have got a lot more attacking options this year, following that transfer blitz that they had in the summer on attacking players.
‘I’d be very surprised if he’s on the bench much longer. He should be starting soon. This international break will give him time to get even fitter. And I would have thought he’d be starting soon.
‘It remains to be seen [if he’ll have a big impact on the team. Let’s just wait and see on Sesko. Let’s watch him a few times before we start forming an opinion. At the moment, he hasn’t been given much of a chance.’