Tim Sherwood says Manchester United summer signing Benjamin Sesko is just one of a number of players at Old Trafford who should be ‘nowhere near’ the team.
Sesko has so far failed to justify his big-money move to the Premier League, scoring just five goals in all competitions.
His £74m arrival was met with much excitement from Manchester United fans, who saw Rasmus Hojlund struggle in the No. 9 role for two seasons before his loan move to Napoli.
But Sesko is threatening to go the same way as Hojlund and former Premier League manager Sherwood, speaking after United’s recent 2-2 draw with Burnley, said he was ‘not good enough’ for the Red Devils.
That was, ironically, Sesko’s best performance to date, with the 22-year-old Slovenia international scoring half of his league goals in the Turf Moor draw.
Sesko also scored in United’s subsequent FA Cup defeat to Brighton but Sherwood believes any confidence built up would have taken a hit after he was an unused substitute in Saturday’s derby win over Manchester City.
Sherwood understands why new caretaker manager Michael Carrick overlooked Sesko, however, and says he ‘probably wouldn’t play him either’ as United turn their attentions to a clash with Premier League leaders Arsenal this weekend.
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While Sherwood doubts Sesko is a Manchester United player, he insists Ruben Amorim’s summer signing is ‘not alone’ in that regard.
Asked about his recent criticism of Sesko, Sherwood told Metro on behalf of OLBG: ‘Listen, I’ve watched Benjamin and I know how difficult it is coming into a new league. You’ve got to settle and he’s still developing as a player.
‘But I can only go on what I’ve seen so far and what I’ve seen so far is I think he’s struggled, there’s room for improvement. In the game where I called him out he scored two goals and he scored in the game after that. So listen, the kid will get confidence from that.
‘But what he won’t get confidence from is the new manager coming in and leaving him out of the derby and then United having their best performance of the season.
‘Saying that, I probably wouldn’t play him either, you know, from what I’ve seen so far. I just think United have probably got better options, but he’s not alone.’
Sherwood insists Sesko is certainly not the only player struggling to make the grade at Manchester United.
Benjamin Sesko, Premier League stats
Appearances: 17 (6 as sub)
Goals: 4
Assists: 1
XG: 4.94
Shots on target: 17
Dribbles: 21 (24% completed)
Duels won: 57
Aerial duals won: 44
Passes: 208 (67% completed)
‘Where do I start on that? It’s probably easier to say who I am sure about at this point,’ Sherwood added.
‘I mean, someone just asked me about Sesko, but I would say that about so many of them. There’s so many Manchester United players who should be nowhere near.
‘I do live in the past a bit though because all I remember is United players being great. I played against some great United teams and especially some great strikers.
‘I think about Robin van Persie and Carlos Tevez and Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Wayne Rooney and then Sesko. You know, that’s where I’m coming from.
‘They had Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, I could carry on. It’s incredible, there was no respite.
‘I am guilty of living in the past regarding the United strikers but they used to sign the best one in the Premier League. Unfortunately for United that doesn’t happen anymore.’
Manchester United also signed Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Senna Lammens last summer, with that trio enjoying more success than Sesko.
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