COMMENT: So the question for John Murtough is: What can Manchester United offer Benjamin Sesko that he isn’t already experiencing with RB Salzburg…?
The interest of United’s technical director is no surprise. Nor, from Sesko’s end of the table, was last week’s fact-finding summit. But when those on the fringes of things state ‘there’s a long way to go’ for this potential transfer, United fans can take that as correct.
As this column discussed last week, Erik ten Hag does like a traditional centre-forward. The Dutchman has leaned heavily on the likes of Sebastien Haller, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Lassina Traore to help him get to where he is today. And United’s manager has made it no secret he wishes a new striker signing – even with Cristiano Ronaldo committed for the new campaign.
So Murtough’s meeting last week with Elvis Basanovic, the player’s agent, is no surprise. Sesko, at 19, is the real deal. Pace. Power. With all the potential of youth. Sesko has long been on the wanted lists of Europe’s biggest clubs. Indeed, the Slovenian was attracting enquiries from the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and AC Milan when he was plundering goals for Krsko’s U18 team at 14 years of age.
The progress of the 6ft 4in centre-forward has never abated. But significantly, while the big clubs, with their big promises, have made their attempts, both Basanovic and Sesko’s father, Ales, have stuck to a career path first drawn up when Benjamin was coming through as a junior player at Krsko.
“From when he started wearing the Krsko jersey, offers came from several quarters, but we knew it was important to play, train and develop his speed, technique and all-round good condition, which was not something you could realistically count on from where the offers had come in the past,” says Ales.
The move from NK Domzale to Salzburg was chosen with career development in mind. That was in 2019. As Basanovic says, the family could easily have accepted the big money and gambled with Benjamin’s development. Instead, they stuck to the original plan and chose Salzburg for their record of developing talent.
“We had a lot of offers from really big clubs,” Basanovic recalled. “Had we decided on the money, Benjamin would have moved to England or Italy. But we decided to look at the bigger picture and the Salzburg project.
“The biggest clubs in Europe tried to get him. The interest in him was huge; I have never seen anything like it before.
“Salzburg has given Benjamin a path. Here, he can develop. The people in charge really wanted him, which was important to us.”
Ales agrees, admitting the family are delighted with what they’ve found after placing Benjamin at Salzburg three years ago.
“There is definitely a difference; for example, when he went to the student dormitory in Domzal, you realise that he is not right next to you, but he is somehow within reach, since it is only a good hour’s drive from Radeč to Domžal,” says Ales. “The story with Salzburg is very different. Another language, other people – the leap was by no means easy, but when we now analyse the decisions and results after about these years together, there is no doubt: Benjamin is paving his sporting path in the right direction.”
Ales also says: “The tendency of Austrians regarding schooling itself is also very appropriate. Namely, they require that the athlete has a successful formal education and masters the German language, in parallel with the fact that the greatest emphasis is on training, training and training again, sometimes 2-3 times a day. Sports and education go hand in hand with them.”
Three years into this current stage and you just wonder, at 19 years age, established as a first-choice in Salzburg’s first team and with time on his side, what could Murtough and United offer to convince Sesko and his support network to ditch all that for Old Trafford?
Registering the club’s interest. Sending out the feelers. You can understand Ten Hag and Murtough’s motivation. If there’s an opportunity to secure a talent like Sesko, United don’t want to miss it. But how they engineer such an approach is another question altogether.
For all this potential. For all his talent. There’s a chasm between the Bundesliga in Austria and the Premier League. Sesko would arrive as a project player for Ten Hag. One to develop and bring on. Certainly not one to make an instant impact.
Sign him and loan him back to Salzburg? Buy him and send him elsewhere. Keep him and have him work with Ronaldo? They’re all options which will be pursued. But as Sesko’s support team have shown, the club’s name, the prestige and the money on offer, no such things interest them ahead of the player’s development and education.
Where Murtough made his move last week, his counterpart at AC Milan, Paolo Maldini, tried something similar just weeks previous.
“I talked to Paolo Maldini about many things. Of course, the name Benjamin Sesko was also mentioned,” Basanovic stated at the beginning of July.
“In the next five to six years, Sesko will be one of the best strikers in Europe. At the moment he has everything he needs for his development in Salzburg.”
And that’s it in a nutshell. At this stage in his career, Salzburg offers everything Sesko currently needs. He’s happy. As is his family. And his career is continuing to move in the right direction – and rapidly.
The interest of Ten Hag and Murtough is understandable. But they’ll have to come up with something ingenious to convince Sesko and his team that Manchester United is the best place for him at this stage in his career.
Given the opinion of Basanovic. Given the gratitude of Dad, Ales. Is there anything Manchester United can offer Benjamin Sesko that he doesn’t have as a RB Salzburg player?
