Troy Deeney remains unconvinced by Benjamin Sesko and said he would prefer to have one former Manchester United flop over the ‘reclusive’ summer signing.
United signed Sesko for £74million from RB Leipzig in the summer, but the 22-year-old has endured an underwhelming start to his Old Trafford career.
Sesko was brought in to replace Rasmus Hojlund, who joined Napoli on loan with an obligation to buy, but he has hardly fared better than the Dane, managing just two goals in 11 appearances for United so far.
Back-to-back goals prior to the international break, as well as an assist in the 4-2 win over Brighton, were signs of promise, but an underwhelming display last weekend against Nottingham Forest has put the Slovenian international back under the microscope.
United legend Gary Neville claimed that Sesko still looks ‘awkward’ leading the line for Ruben Amorim’s side after their weekend draw with Forest.
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But former Watford striker Deeney went further, suggesting Sesko carries himself like a ‘baby giraffe’ and is not ‘on the same wavelength’ as his attacking teammates, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.
‘Benjamin Sesko looks like a baby giraffe,’ he said on The Football Exchange. ‘I’m looking at him; he scored two goals before the international break in back-to-back games. And I was like, ‘Okay, you’re going to have an international break and then come back full of confidence’.
‘I’m not talking about scoring because strikers go through spells where they don’t score, unless you’re Erling Haaland, obviously. But for most normal people, you go through little breaks.
‘But I don’t see what he does. He’s six foot four inches, honestly, I p*** stronger than him at times. He doesn’t run over people; he’s always on his heels.
‘You have Cunha and Mbeumo trying to play off him. If they need him to come short, he runs in behind. If they need him to run in behind, he comes short. He’s never on the same wavelength with his team.’
Deeney did not lay all the blame at Sesko’s door, however, and said United have almost set him up to fail by bringing in a young, unproven talent without a more experienced striker to show them the ropes.
‘I can see the raw ability, and I can see why you’ve signed him, but it’s my problem, I’ve been saying with Man Utd for the last three years,’ he added.
‘They got rid of Hojlund because he is no good, but Sesko’s the same; they have the same characteristics.
‘You need a veteran striker there to teach people [and say]: ‘In this moment, do this, in this moment, do that. Or you’re not working well on keeping hold of the ball because you’re a young man – let me teach you how to do that’.
‘I just don’t get it how they keep spending 70 million, 80 million on a striker and just go ‘Oh, he’ll figure it out. One season – not good enough? Alright, get rid of him and throw in another one’.’
Without another out-and-out striker on their books, United will surely persist with Sesko, who is under contract at Old Trafford until 2030.
However, Deeney is not convinced that the former Leipzig striker will come good in the short term, suggesting his ‘reclusive’ nature is one of several aspects of his game that currently hold him back.
And the 37-year-old said that he would even rather have Wout Weghorst, the Dutch striker who scored two goals in 31 appearances during a strange loan spell at United four seasons ago, leading the line over Sesko right now.
‘They will get Amad or Mbeumo down the wing, but he (Sesko) is not making a deliberate run like, ‘Hey, put the ball in the box’,’ Deeney said of Sesko.
‘And then if they don’t put the ball in the box, he’s not then like, ‘Hey, I’m in the box, pass me the ball’. Maybe it’s his personality type.
‘We don’t know the kid, but maybe he is like a reclusive chess-player type, you know, like he’s very smart but just doesn’t interact with humans that well.
‘But for me, he needs to liven up because you’re at Man Utd. At this point, I’d take Weghorst back. At least he was game. He’s going to run around and be disruptive. He’s not the best, but he’s game.’
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