Ex-Man United midfielder Nicky Butt is worried that his former club have made a mistake in signing Benjamin Sesko.
Speaking to BetMGM, Butt suggested that the Red Devils could end up in a similar situation to the one they found themselves in with Rasmus Hojlund:
“I hope I’m wrong, but I really hope they aren’t making the same mistakes with Sesko as they did with Rasmus. A young player coming in with no Premier League experience, it just feels like history repeating itself.”
Butt has made it clear who he would have liked United to sign instead this summer:
“Honestly, for what it would have cost, I would have gone and brought in someone like Ollie Watkins, someone to help and pull the young strikers out of a bad patch. When young players are just coming into the club, when the onus is on them to score goals, if they’re having a few bad games, they have to have the safety net of being pulled out of the firing line. Ollie Watkins, or someone like that, would be who I would have been looking to bring in.”
Sesko has had a slow start to his Man United career
Ruben Amorim’s side beat Newcastle to the Slovenian international’s signature, spending an initial £66.3m to secure his services. The fee could rise to £73.7m based on performances.
However, Sesko has yet to score in his first 4 appearances, with some already questioning whether he is ready to lead the line for the Red Devils.
The club have changed their transfer strategy
While United may well have pursued Watkins in the past, it appears bids for ‘ready-made’ solutions are no longer a priority.
This summer, no player over the age of 26 has been snapped up, with Sesko (22), Senne Lammens (23), Matheus Cunha (26) and Bryan Mbeumo (25) all in their early to mid twenties.
It remains to be seen whether this strategy is the right approach or whether Butt was correct that players like Watkins should have been brought in instead.
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.
