Manchester United Thread 25/26 - Teamtalk/Transfers/Gossip Mod Note in OP 26.09.24

Although I would rather spend on another midfielder, adding another promising young striker to our squad should certainly improve the squad and our awful goal scoring record. Although I am slightly worried no other top European club is remotely interested in Sesko and we are in the final week of pre season so hopefully this isn't a panic buy- I have seen Sesko, watched some clips and read the stats but I can't say I know him well or am very confident he will score the same number of goals in the PL; And he will take time to settle as he has missed the entire pre season. Time will tell if we do sign him.

I'd expect (hope!!) for movement on our outgoing players in next week or two- I have no hope of moving Sancho on but hopefully Antony, Malacia and Gernacho might move on-Although Antony and Betis playing silly games at the minute!

I think I would have a similar hesitance on him. He has the tools - size, pace, ball striking - but then so did Hojlund. Where it matters is the intelligence and movement, which is where Hojlund has failed. Will Sesko be better? Does he have the intelligent movement in the box to create space and be in the right place at the right time? His career doesn't show massive evidence of it - but a lack of evidence doesn't mean he can't. He was, last season more so, being played as the second striker, not the main target, so that will have had an impact on his statistics.

Where I think/hope it creates improvement in the side is what he may offer in build up. If he is making the right runs, and the ball isn't bouncing off him, that is already a huge improvement. I think his alround game will see Mbeumo, Bruno and Cunha do well, where I think Hojlund would have been an active detrement to them unless we saw massive improvement from him.

But for 70m+ you need way more than 'isn't a liability'. He needs to be the guy. While I don't want to say he is another Hojlund - it is a similar bet we are making; that a young striker will develop to the level we need, while costing the money of a player that we should be able to immediately rely upon. at this price, we can't afford to be entering the market again next summer for a first choice striker.

I do think, as you point to, we are also setting Sesko up for sucess better, with Cunha and Mbeumo to support him in terms of creation and goal scoring burden.

Essentially, imo we are betting on Sesko being an elite forward in the side we want to see competing for a title in 3 years. Lets hope its a bet that pays off.

As the saying goes goals win games. We all know the CM needs strengthening. Casemiro and Ugarte don't seem to be the answer to that defensive midfield position and there's a worry opposition players will run through us but as mentioned we couldn't buy a goal last season so we should see a massive improvement in that area of the field. There's no doubting that watching United play this season should be a lot more enjoyable.

Another point ref the importance of Champions League to a player is age. At 22 Sesko has 10-12 years of top flight football ahead of him whereas a player who is 27 or older is at their peak and looking at only 5-7 more years to play Champions League. Immediate access to Champions League football is always going to be less important to a relatively inexperinced 22 year old than it is to a more senior experienced player at or entering their peak years.

I think it depends on the club in the CL tbh.

If we had been competing vs Arsenal or Liverpool, maybe Chelsea too - its not just baout being in the CL, its the perspective of whether they could actually compete for it.

Who were the two CMs that @Mitch Connor kept mentioning previously? Was it Richard Rios and Hayden Hackney? I don't think we'd need to break the bank for either of them but they might not be the guaranteed starter some are looking for

Ah we weren’t that bad in the league. It was 15th I’m sure? 😂

Agree with this but I also think we should take comfort from the fact that both Newcastle and Arsenal were very interested in him. Both of those clubs have been extremely cautious and savvy in the transfer market over the last few years and I don't think they'd have pursued him to the extent they did without being fairly confident that he can cut it at a high level in the PL.

I was like we were possibly going to finish 17th but then it wasn't that bad so I went up one! 😂

Reus could do a job in midfield too I'm sure.... Is he still about?

So happy for this guy

I’m by no means certain Sesko will be a success. But whilst physically he might be built a bit like Hojlund, he’s far more effective at using his frame.

Even back in his Serie A days, Hojlund had an abysmal duel rate. Particularly in the air for someone 6’4, he only won 30% of his headers. Thats gotten worse somehow in the prem. 27% in his first season at United. 25% this year. That’s just his level. Sesko wins 60%. Im hopeful Sesko won’t be a trampoline up front in the way Hojlund is.

Hojlund’s other huge flaw is he doesn’t generate shots. Even back in his Atalanta days he was only having 1.7 shots per game. Down to 1.0 at United. Sesko will almost certainly generate far more attacking actions than Hojlund.

At Leipzig though they play with two CFs and you have to assume that given his size Sesko was their target man and Loïs Openda was your goal scorer. Which he was in the first season scoring 24 league goals but only scored 9 last season.

Hell yeah that's great news. Delighted for the lad. He'd be a great fit a RA team but he was never gonna be first choice for ETH so he had to move on for his own benefit. Delighted to see how well he's done and how beloved he is in Naples