Benjamin Sesko’s Injury Woes at Manchester United
Benjamin Sesko’s stuttering Manchester United start has taken another unwelcome twist, with the striker sidelined from Slovenia duty as specialists assess a worrying shin problem.
The 23-year-old will stay in Manchester rather than join up with his national team for their double-header against Scotland and subsequent games with North Macedonia and Switzerland. Instead of international minutes, he gets medical exams and rehab at Carrington.
It is not the season Sesko imagined when United paid £74million to bring him in last August. Michael Carrick has largely trusted Matheus Cunha as his starting centre-forward, leaving Sesko to scrap for minutes from the bench. Six appearances in all competitions, two goals, plenty of frustration.
He did not feature in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Fulham, with the club citing a shin issue. That problem has now escalated into something more serious than a routine knock.
According to GiveMeSport, Sesko is undergoing detailed tests on Monday to establish the extent of the damage, with no firm timeframe yet for his return. The uncertainty is what alarms people most.
In Slovenia, the tone is even darker. Sports daily Ekipa, relayed by Sport Witness, reports that the injury “doesn’t look good because of history and past patterns”. The concern is not just this setback, but what it might say about Sesko’s long-term durability.
Ekipa highlight that conditions which cause persistent bone pain without a clear fracture are often chronic in nature. That line has set alarm bells ringing. This is not a one-off issue for Sesko; it is something he has wrestled with before, and sections of the Slovenian media fear it could trouble him for months.
An MRI scan in London is expected to give a clearer picture, both for Slovenia and for United, who have yet to see the full version of the striker they invested so heavily in. For his country, the loss is obvious: Sesko has 16 goals in 45 caps and is the reference point of their attack.
For the player, the timing is brutal. A strong international window might have been the perfect platform to rebuild confidence and rhythm before returning to Old Trafford. Instead, the narrative shifts back to what-ifs and missed opportunities.
Debate around his usage at United had already been simmering. After the 2-2 draw with Everton, Paul Scholes argued that Sesko should be central to Carrick’s plans, calling him a potential “focal point” and insisting it is “very difficult to watch a Manchester United team without a centre-forward.”
Michael Owen sees it differently. He views Sesko, at least for now, as a “great impact player” rather than the finished product, not yet the “real deal” capable of dragging United into a genuine Premier League title race. That discussion will now be paused by force, not choice.
Sesko is not alone in staying put during the break. Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo have also withdrawn from England duty after being assessed following late substitutions in the draw at Fulham, adding to Carrick’s injury headaches.
For Sesko, though, this feels more pivotal. A marquee signing, a stop-start beginning, and now a shin injury with a worrying backstory. United thought they were buying their future at centre-forward. The next scan will tell them how much of that future is immediately on hold.
