Benjamin Sesko will not play again this year, with Manchester United now expecting their £74 million striker to be out until at least January as he recovers from the shin injury that has wrecked his season, according to The Athletic.
The update, reported by Laurie Whitwell in The Athletic and covered by SI, ends weeks of uncertainty over the 23-year-old Slovenia international. United's medical team have been investigating the best course of treatment with specialists, and while Sesko is healing well through rest, the path back is expected to take him into the New Year — and he will then need further time to build match sharpness before he can lead the line again.
An injury he played through last season
The Athletic report that this is the same shin problem Sesko first suffered last season, in a collision that forced him into the advertising hoardings against Liverpool at Old Trafford. Remarkably, he played through the final two months of that campaign despite the discomfort, helping United qualify for the Champions League, and the club decided against surgery in the summer, preferring an extended rest instead.
That rest cost him the whole of pre-season, and the problem has flared again. Sesko has been limited to just six appearances this term and has not started a Premier League game. His last outing came on 16 September, when he started the Carabao Cup defeat by Brighton; a week later United said he would undergo tests before an individual recovery plan was defined, as 101 Great Goals recounts. The Athletic stress the issue is not considered chronic — but every party wants him completely free of it on his return, so there is next to no chance of another setback. Reports in The Sun add that United hope the long lay-off will let him avoid surgery altogether.
Beyond the Final Whistle first reported United's fears over Sesko's recovery last week, when a four-month absence was already being discussed inside the club. Wednesday's update turns that fear into a firm timeline.
So what does Carrick do until January?
The timing could hardly be worse for Michael Carrick. United travel to Chelsea on Saturday in a game already being billed as critical for his future, and Sesko will also miss the Champions League visit of Roma on 3 November, Aston Villa, Liverpool and a crowded December programme that includes Arsenal on 19 December.
United's only other natural No 9 is Joshua Zirkzee, whose record of 10 goals in 83 appearances underlines why Carrick has so often turned elsewhere. Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and even Bruno Fernandes have all been used as makeshift centre-forwards this season, without any of them truly convincing through the middle. There was at least one piece of good news this week, with Kobbie Mainoo returning to training before the Chelsea trip, but Mainoo does not solve the problem at the top of the pitch.
It also sharpens the January question. United chose not to sign another striker in the summer; with Sesko not due back until the window itself opens — and short of sharpness even then — the pressure to revisit that decision will only grow if the makeshift attack keeps misfiring.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is the right medical call and a brutal footballing one. United rushed Sesko's body through the run-in last season and are now paying for it twice — once in a lost pre-season, and again in a lost autumn. Protecting a 23-year-old from a recurrence matters more than any single result, but it leaves Carrick fighting for his job with no recognised striker he trusts. If United are not in the market for a forward in January now, they are not serious about rescuing this season.
Can United cope without Sesko until January, or must they sign a striker in the window? Let us know what you think in the comments.
