Benjamin Sesko: Overcoming Injury and Embracing Manchester United

Benjamin Sesko leans back in his chair and smiles. The grimaces, the stop-start warm-ups, the lonely rehab sessions – he is convinced they’re gone.

The Manchester United forward believes the nagging shin problem that stalked his debut season is finally behind him, and his recent return to the Champions League spotlight has only strengthened that feeling.

“It was shin,” he says, almost with relief. Simple words for an injury that complicated almost everything.

A slow burn back to the XI

Sesko’s first year in England never really ran in a straight line. The Slovenian arrived with expectation, delivered flashes of why United had chased him since he was 16, and still finished with 12 goals. On paper, respectable. In reality, the story felt messier.

The issue began to bite in the closing stages of last season. A heavy kick, then the relentless tempo of Premier League football, and suddenly every sprint, every duel, carried a question mark.

“I got a kick last season, but it was also a little bit of an overload from myself. So basically, that was it,” the 23-year-old explains.

What followed was a summer of frustration. His pre-season never really got going. While teammates sharpened up, Sesko spent more time with medical staff than with the ball at his feet. The club chose caution over risk, and the forward bought into it.

“It was basically just to make sure that it doesn't get worse because this was kind of a problem,” he says. “We just need a little bit longer than usual, because if you start too early, it might appear again. And I think waiting a little bit longer was a great decision, and now it's healed, so it's perfect.”

The patience paid off. Rest turned into strength. Strength turned into rhythm. His reappearance in the starting XI in Europe felt less like a tentative comeback and more like a statement that the stop-start phase of his United career is over.

From whirlwind to belonging

Off the pitch, the transformation has been just as stark.

Sesko doesn’t pretend his first season in Manchester was easy. New league, new country, new expectations – the classic cocktail that can swallow a young player whole. Coming from Germany, with the Bundesliga’s structure and familiarity, the leap into the Premier League circus was always going to feel intense.

“Way better, especially than last season,” he says when asked about his current mindset. “I changed a country. Everything was new for me. Now for me it's like I'm really enjoying it. I'm really happy here. I love life here. I have teammates that are perfect. I can't really complain about anything.”

There’s no hint of a player still finding his bearings. The language is settled. So is he.

The dressing room feels like home now, not a place he’s still trying to fit into. The city, once just a backdrop to a new job, has become somewhere he genuinely likes living. That matters, particularly at a club where the pressure rarely dips and every performance is dissected.

The long road to Old Trafford

Sesko’s route to Manchester was never going to be a straight line from teenage prodigy to United No. 9. The club had him on their radar when he was still a 16-year-old prospect, but his camp resisted the temptation of a premature leap.

He moved from Red Bull Salzburg to Leipzig, climbing the Red Bull ladder, adding layers to his game, and learning how to handle expectation without being swallowed by it. Only when he and his representatives felt he was ready did the move to Old Trafford finally happen.

“It was just basically the moment that we decided because I think it was important,” he says. “It would be a little bit too huge of a step for me to jump from, let’s say, Austria or Slovenia directly to Manchester United. So I just needed those steps to get better and better and I’m finally here.”

That word – “finally” – carries weight. It speaks to a plan that has taken years, not months, and to a player who knows exactly how big this stage is.

Now the shin is healed, the adaptation storm has calmed, and the sense of belonging has arrived. The excuses have disappeared with the pain.

For Benjamin Sesko, the question no longer revolves around whether his body can cope with the demands of Manchester United.

It’s what he does with this clean slate.