“The Jury Is Out” – Gary Neville Concerned That €80M Man United Transfer Decision Won’t Pay Off

BACK Gary Neville says he is yet to be convinced that Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko is worth his transfer fee. The Red Devils could pay more than €80m for the Slovenian international, including add-ons, but after watching him against Nottingham Forest at the weekend, Neville said: “I’m no further forward with him. The jury is out. He’s well off it compared to the other summer signings Manchester United made up front, like Cunha and Mbeumo.” “He looks awkward. He had a couple of good opportunities against Forest, but his touch wasn’t quite right. For 80 million, you can say he’s young and settling in, but you still want to see a bit more.” Sesko is young and needs time to adapt Of course, when you pay so much money for one player, there is an expectation that he will come in and perform straight away, but that is rarely what happens. It has to be emphasised that Sesko is only 22 years of age, and he is playing in the Premier League for the first time. It is not a surprise that he is finding things tougher than Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, who have played in England for several years. Man United have got themselves a talented player While pundits and fans can quibble about the transfer fee paid, it can’t be forgotten that Arsenal had made several attempts to sign the forward in the past. Newcastle also wanted him to replace Alexander Isak. Sesko hasn’t been able to show what he is truly capable of quite yet, but Neville and others should not be making sweeping judgements at this stage. If he is still struggling by March or April, then a conversation can be had on whether United paid too much for the striker. Read more about the Manchester United First Team Squad for 2025/26 here David Tully David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World’s Football News Network.