Sesko Injury Deepens Manchester United’s Early-Season Crisis
Manchester United’s stuttering start to the season has taken another hit, and this one cuts right through the heart of their attack.
Benjamin Sesko, the £74 million summer signing from Leipzig, is sidelined again with a leg problem that continues to baffle not only supporters, but some of the club’s own legends.
The Slovenian striker arrived in 2025 as the headline addition to United’s forward line, only to miss the entire pre-season with the same leg issue he first sustained last term. He initially picked up the injury after a kick to the leg in the win over Liverpool in May, and the problem has never truly gone away.
He did at least make it onto the pitch early in the campaign. Sesko started in the Champions League against Sabah and led the line in the Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton. In the league, he was used from the bench in United’s first four matches, hinting at a gradual integration into Michael Carrick’s side.
Then, suddenly, nothing.
Sesko dropped out of the squad entirely for Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage. He did not travel to London, and Carrick was unable to give a clear update on the severity of the injury, only confirming that tests this week will determine the club’s next steps.
For a team already reeling from a disastrous start to the season, the timing could hardly be worse.
United chose not to bring in another orthodox centre-forward during the summer window, a gamble that now looks increasingly reckless. That decision has left Joshua Zirkzee — with nine goals in 77 matches to his name — as the only recognised out-and-out striker available.
On the latest episode of “The Good, the Bad and the Football”, former United midfielders Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes did not hide their frustration at the situation, nor their confusion over Sesko’s ongoing fitness issues.
Butt first took aim at the club’s recruitment.
“The back four is a big problem, but for me, the bigger problem is the number 9,” he said, quoted by English newspaper Metro. “How can Manchester United have only one striker? Who is injured, and with what injury, is it a leg injury?”
Scholes, never one to sugar-coat, responded with a pointed quip: “How do you get injured in your leg? Isn’t that a broken leg? Can’t you just wear shin pads?”
The tone was joking, but the irritation underneath was clear.
Butt pushed the point further.
“Either you break your leg, or you play. Wear shin pads or padding, I don’t quite understand it. It’s hard to discuss without knowing what it is.”
That last line sums up the mood around Old Trafford. Confusion. Concern. And a growing sense that United’s season is being shaped by problems they could have anticipated.
With medical tests now set to decide how long Sesko will be out, Carrick faces the prospect of navigating a critical stretch of the campaign with a single senior striker and a fanbase already questioning the club’s planning.
