Peter Schmeichel has praised Benjamin Sesko’s ‘instincts’ and character but shouldn’t be sure the striker is totally ready’ to be a guaranteed starter for Manchester United just yet.
After a slow begin to his Old Trafford profession, Sesko has hit a hot streak in front of goal, netting eight times in his last ten appearances for the Red Devils.
A nine-game barren spell over a difficult winter period had some fans and pundits questioning United’s decision to splash out £74million on a 22-year-old centre-forward with no prior experience of English football.
But Sesko has developed a repute as an impactful super sub because the turn of the 12 months and there may be a growing clamour for the Slovenia international to be entrusted with more starts under Michael Carrick.
Carrick gave Sesko the nod for United’s recent clash with Crystal Palace and the young attacker repaid his manager’s faith with what proved to be the winning goal in a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford.
Sesko returned to the substitutes bench again after firing a blank at Newcastle, only to come back on and rating again to place United out of sight within the side’s 3-1 defeat of Aston Villa on Sunday.
Before kick-off, Carrick admitted it ‘wasn’t a straightforward decision’ to go away Sesko out of his starting XI considering his recent exploits in front of goal.
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‘We’ve just got an excellent forward line to select from, and it’s just getting that balance right really from game to game,’ United’s interim manager said in his pre-match interview with Sky Sports.
‘Whether it’s starting the sport, whether it’s the impact coming off the bench.
‘I feel over the eight games really, I feel we’ve had good impact in other ways coming off the bench, and I feel that’s an enormous a part of the sport. So just attempting to get that balance right.
‘It wasn’t a straightforward decision, however the boys have all adapted to it very well, and in order that they’re ready.’
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In his post-match evaluation on Viaplay, club legend Schmeichel said he understood Carrick’s call to not play Sesko from the off on the Theatre of Dreams.
The legendary 1999 treble winner was, though, keen to applaud Sesko for the way in which by which he had conducted himself each on and off the pitch in his debut season.
‘It’s great to have players where you think that, after they come on, that there’s a likelihood, a really, superb likelihood, that they’re going to attain,’ Schmeichel explained.
‘He’s got great instincts and we’ve seen this now within the last eight or nine games. His instincts are superb.
‘I’m undecided he’s completely able to be a starting number nine in every game so I believed it was quite good of Michael Carrick to maintain him on the bench and keep him hungry.
‘He’s come on and he’s enthusiastic.’
Should Sesko start against Bournemouth on Friday?
Bruno Fernandes arrange Casemiro and Matheus Cunha’s goals against Villa to up his assists tally to 16 within the Premier League this term – taking him past David Beckham’s record for a person season as a United player.
After the sport, Schmeichel’s Viaplay colleague Jaap Stam – the Dane’s former team-mate at Old Trafford – underlined the importance of keeping hold of Fernandes in United with the ability to achieve their ambitions.
The United captain has been linked with the Saudi Pro League since way back to 2023 and admitted in December that this season might be his last with the club.
But when asked if he was confident Fernandes would stay put beyond the summer, Schmeichel replied: ‘Yeah, of course.
‘If you happen to think back to last summer, there was a possibility to sell him to Saudi and the club would get about £100m for him.
‘That may have helped enormously with the state of the financials on the club.
‘Bruno said, “No! I don’t want to go away!”, and he could have made a ton of cash but he loves the football club.’
The ex-Denmark goalkeeper added: ‘Having made that call last summer, I cannot see anyone tempting him with whatever: higher club, more cash.
‘I feel he loves it here. He’s the captain, he’s the largest player here and the fans absolutely love him. I just can’t see it.’
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