Manchester United's Pre-Season Challenge: Sesko's Absence Looms Large
Manchester United head to Gothenburg this weekend with the kind of glamour fixture pre-season marketers dream about: Paris Saint-Germain, a packed stadium, a new signing on show and the captain in tow.
Yet the name missing from the boarding list says just as much about United’s summer as the ones on it.
Tielemans in, Sesko still out
Michael Carrick has confirmed a 22-man travelling squad for Saturday’s meeting with the European champions, with new arrival Youri Tielemans included for the first time and Bruno Fernandes leading the group.
Benjamin Sesko is not on the plane.
The Slovenian striker, signed to be a central pillar of United’s attack, was expected back in time for this game. His shin problem, picked up against Liverpool late last season, was initially described as minor. It cost him the final three matches of the previous campaign but was never thought to threaten his pre-season.
Yet United have now played their warm-up games without him. Every single one.
Sesko has been spotted at Carrington, visible but distant, working away from the main group. The 23-year-old has not taken part in full team training, a stark contrast to the intensity Carrick is demanding from his forwards as the new season closes in.
Rehabilitation steps up, questions mount
There is no suggestion of a major setback. Manchester Evening News reporter Steven Railston has stressed that the plan remains intact.
“Benjamin Sesko is still on track to be fit for the start of the season, so there’s no reason to panic. The striker has been stepping up his rehabilitation at Carrington,” he posted on X.
Inside the club, the line is consistent: the No.30 should be ready when the competitive games begin.
Outside the club, patience is thinner.
There is still no confirmation that Sesko will join United’s training camp in the Republic of Ireland next week. For a player who logged 32 appearances, 12 goals and 1 assist across 1,817 minutes last season, the lack of match action this summer feels increasingly jarring.
Echoes of De Ligt
Supporters have seen this film before, or at least they think they have.
The handling of Matthijs de Ligt’s injury last season has become an uncomfortable reference point. The Dutch defender was initially expected to miss a single game. He ended up out for six months. What began as a minor issue morphed into a long-running saga that repeatedly left United short at the back.
No one is saying Sesko faces the same fate. The information around his shin problem has always been more reassuring. But the gap between early optimism and present reality is hard for fans to ignore.
A knock that “was not too serious” has now kept the club’s main centre-forward out of almost an entire pre-season.
Fitness vs sharpness
Even if the medical projections prove correct and Sesko is available for the opening day, another concern looms: rhythm.
Pre-season is not just about ticking off minutes. It’s about timing runs, building relationships, understanding patterns. A 6 ft 5 in centre-forward who thrives on movement and finishing instinct needs those repetitions as much as the conditioning work in the gym.
Right now, Sesko has neither competitive minutes nor pre-season friendlies in his legs. Carrick, who is trying to bed in Tielemans and refine the attacking structure around Fernandes, has had to plan without the striker he expects to lead the line.
That matters.
United still have time to get him on the pitch before the serious business starts, but the window is narrowing. The question now is simple: will Benjamin Sesko play a single pre-season minute before the campaign kicks off, or will United’s new season begin with their main striker chasing the game before a ball has even been kicked?
