Sesko declares shin injury 'perfect' after scoring on first United start of the season

Benjamin Sesko marked his first start of the season with a goal and a clean bill of health as Manchester United beat Sabah 4-0 in the Champions League on Thursday, with the Slovenian striker declaring his long-standing shin problem “perfect” after a carefully managed return to action.

Sesko had been introduced from the bench in United’s previous three matches as the club took a cautious approach following a disrupted pre-season. The 21-year-old explained that the patience had paid off, revealing the issue stemmed from a combination of a knock and physical overload.

“It was basically just to make sure that it doesn’t get worse because this was kind of a problem,” Sesko said. “We just need a little bit longer than usual, because if you start too early, it might appear again. And I think waiting a little bit longer was a great decision, and now it’s healed, so it’s perfect. It was shin.”

The same injury had cut short his debut campaign at Old Trafford, which he traced back to a challenge he received late in the season. “I got a kick last season, but it was also a little bit of an overload from myself. So basically, that was it.”

Despite the disruption, Sesko finished his first year at United with 12 goals after joining from RB Leipzig in a £66m deal, and he says he is already feeling far more settled heading into his second season.

“Way better, especially than last season,” he said. “I changed a country. Everything was new for me. Now for me it’s like I’m really enjoying it. I’m really happy here. I love life here. I have teammates that are perfect. I can’t really complain about anything.”

Sesko also shed light on why he did not join United as a teenager, despite the club showing interest when he was 16. He said moving directly from Austria or Slovenia to Old Trafford would have been too large a step at that stage of his development, and that the intermediate years at RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig were essential to his growth.

“It would be a little bit too huge of a step for me to jump from, let’s say, Austria or Slovenia directly to Manchester United,” he explained. “So I just needed those steps to get better and better and I’m finally here.”