‘Liability’ – Benjamin Sesko branded worse than Rasmus Hojlund in damning verdict of Manchester United striker

Benjamin Sesko has been outperformed by Rasmus Hojlund in a Manchester United shirt – he hasn’t impressed one bit.

That’s the view of Red Devils correspondent Jamie Jackson and ex-Newcastle boss Alan Pardew, who expressed their concerns over the £74million summer signing after another underwhelming display.

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In his first start since his return from a knee injury, Sesko struggled to make an impact as United lost 2-1 to Aston Villa on Sunday.

The Slovenian was largely ineffective in the game, and missed his one big chance in the first half when he shot straight at Emiliano Martinez.

It saw his challenging start to life in English football continue, with his tally now standing at just two goals in 14 games.

Sesko’s early struggles at Old Trafford have raised concern, with fans and pundits questioning why he was the club’s biggest recruit in the summer transfer window.

And things only got worse in the aftermath of the Villa defeat, with the forward’s displays drawing parallels with Rasmus Hojlund in his first season at United.

Signed in the summer of 2023 in a £72m deal, the Dane famously took until Boxing Day to score his first goal for the club.

Despite this however, The Guardian’s Manchester correspondent Jamie Jackson has insisted Hojlund showed more potential in his debut season.

‘Hojlund looks the better player’

Now on loan at Napoli, Hojlund who has banged in seven goals in 18 games for the Italian outfit, scored 26 times in 95 matches over two seasons at Old Trafford.

Giving his verdict on Sesko on talkSPORT Breakfast, Jackson said: “So far, he’s had half a season, I get that he’s been injured and all the rest of it. 

“But again we’re talking about top level, elite football. These players are brought in for a reason. He’s the number nine [positionally]. 

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“I’d say so far, Hojlund looks the better player. Hojlund’s got burning pace, the number nine, obviously he’s on loan at Napoli.

“Sesko looks a bit lost. Every time he gets the ball you think he’s going to lose it, it’s not a great sign.

“Hopefully, because we all want to see players flourish and be stars, we love to see that in any sort of team, whoever you support, players light up games. But he doesn’t really light up games at all, does he?

“You think the opposite, you think, ‘Oh dear me he’s a little bit of a liability at the moment.’

“Now it’s a chicken-egg thing – he needs to play more to get confidence, but the confidence seems to be sapped every time he does play because he doesn’t perform particularly well and then that becomes a negative sort of spiral.

“So I’m not very impressed at all.” 

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Pardew’s damning verdict

It wasn’t just Jackson who has been unimpressed by Sesko, with former Newcastle and West Ham manager Alan Pardew expressing similar concerns on talkSPORT’s ‘The Final Word’ on Sunday.

Asked for his thoughts on the Slovenia international, Pardew admitted: “He doesn’t really get me off my seat, there’s nothing about him that makes me go: ‘Wow’.

“And that’s what you want when you pay that sort of money for a striker, you’d like to see a moment where you go, ‘Ooph’, that  just sort of knocks you back a little bit, and put you on the back foot.

“That’s what I always used to say to my attackers and strikers, ‘Can you do something to actually put the team, the opposition on the back foot, can you scare them?’ 

“Cunha does that, and Fernandes. When they’ve got it, they can bend it in, they can create a pass.

“I’ve not seen anything from Sesko that gives me that feeling.”