Manchester United's Sesko Injury Deepens Early-Season Struggles

Manchester United’s stuttering start to the season has taken another hit, and this time the focus is squarely on their thin forward line.

Benjamin Sesko, the £74 million summer signing from Leipzig, is again sidelined with the leg problem that has stalked him since last season. The Slovenian striker missed the entire pre-season after first suffering the injury in May, when he took a kick to the leg during a win over Liverpool.

He has since been eased into competitive action: a start in the Champions League against Sabah, another in the Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton, and four substitute appearances in the league. Then, suddenly, nothing.

On Sunday at Craven Cottage, as United scraped a 1-1 draw with Fulham, Sesko was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t travel to London. Manager Michael Carrick offered no clarity on the severity of the issue, only that tests this week will dictate the club’s next steps.

For a side already reeling from a chaotic opening to the campaign, the timing could hardly be worse.

Legends question United’s striker strategy

The decision to enter the season with just one recognised centre-forward is now under fierce scrutiny. United opted against signing another out-and-out striker in the summer window, leaving Joshua Zirkzee — nine goals in 77 matches — as the only alternative through the middle.

On the latest episode of “The Good, the Bad and the Football”, former United midfielders Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes did not hide their frustration.

“The back four is a big problem, but for me, the bigger problem is the number 9,” Butt said, quoted by the English newspaper Metro. “How can Manchester United have only one striker? Who is injured, and with what injury, is it a leg injury?”

The concern is not just about quality. It’s about availability. One senior striker, one recurring leg issue, and no safety net.

Scholes and Butt baffled by Sesko injury

The discussion quickly turned from squad planning to Sesko himself. Scholes, never one to sugar-coat, cut in with a pointed quip: “How do you get injured in your leg? Isn’t that a broken leg? Can’t you just wear shin pads?”

Butt pushed the same line, if more bluntly than clinically.

“Either you break your leg, or you play,” he said. “Wear shin pads or padding, I don’t quite understand it. It’s hard to discuss without knowing what it is.”

The pair’s comments underline a growing sense of exasperation around Old Trafford. A £74m striker, still not fully fit. A squad built without a genuine backup. A manager waiting on medical reports instead of making attacking choices.

Tests in the coming days will reveal the extent of Sesko’s latest setback. United can only hope the news is kinder than their planning has been, because if this “disastrous” start is to be salvaged, they cannot afford their marquee No 9 to become a permanent question mark.