Benjamin Sesko has established himself as one of the most exciting young prospects up front in Europe.
Sesko’s first season at RB Leipzig has been fantastic, having arrived from Leipzig’s Austria sister-club RB Salzburg last summer for €24 million.
Having made 42 appearances for the Bundesliga club, Sesko has managed to grab 18 goals and two assists, helping the club achieve a fourth-place finish and securing Champions League football next year.
The 21-year-old was also part of the squad to lift the DFL-Supercup, beating Bayern Munich 3-0 thanks to a hattrick from midfielder Dani Olmo.
Having impressed for Leipzig, Sesko found himself on the squad list for Slovenia’s Euro 2024 campaign in Germany this summer, playing each game for the Slovenians, making it through the group stages despite being third in Group B beneath England and Denmark.
In the round of 16, Sesko’s side came up against Portugal, where unfortunately the Slovenian’s were knockout thanks to the dreaded penalty shootout.
Given the excitement that surrounds the 21-year-old, it’s no surprise that top teams like United were interested in signing the striker before he announced he want’s to remain with Leipzig, building on their successful campaign from last year.
However, The Athletic have recently reported that this isn’t the first time that the Red Devils were looking into Benjamin Sesko, having nearly signed the the now star striker for just €2 million.
Back in 2018, with United’s extensive scouting network and system in place, the Red Devils were made aware of an up and coming striker by the name of Benjamin Sesko playing for Slovenian side NK Domzale Under-17s, and had been representing the Slovenian Under-15s team in five friendlies, scoring in four of them.
United were aware of Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg putting in a €2 million offer for the striker, however the Red Devils only authorised a €1 million bid which would then rise to €1.1 million when the matter was taken to the then director of football negotiations, Matt Judge. A week later and the bid rose to €1.2 million, still nearly a million less than the Austrian side were offering.
In an interview with Lyndon Tomlinson, United’s then assistant head of academy recruitment, Tomlinson said: “It was the same time we signed Dillon Hoogewerf,”
He continued: “We were saying, ‘Dillon will cost us €130,000 from Ajax, Sesko will cost us €2million. But we think if we spread the risk over the two players at least one of them should make it’. And they were different profiles. Sesko was athletic, tall, strong, whereas Dillon was smaller and more explosive. So we felt we had the bases covered if we got both. Then you end up getting the one that doesn’t quite do it. You always think, ‘What if?’.”
Ultimately, Sesko has gone on to show his potential, with many more years ahead and the star only getting better and better, and with players like Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo already shining for the United academy, who knows what we would have seen had United increased their offer for the Slovenian striker.
