Sesko faces possible surgery as persistent shin problem hands Carrick fresh selection headache

Benjamin Sesko is facing a potentially lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a fresh shin setback, with Manchester United considering surgery to resolve the 23-year-old’s persistent injury problem.

The £73m Slovenian striker had only just returned on the opening day of the season following three-and-a-half months out with a shin complaint. He featured against Sabah in the Champions League and Brighton in the Carabao Cup before reporting renewed discomfort in the same area after the latter fixture.

“It’s not the exact issue, it’s a similar area, but it’s not the exact same thing again,” head coach Michael Carrick said. “We’re kind of still working through it a little bit to see how long the issue will be. We’re hoping that it’ll be soon, obviously, but at this moment it’s still not quite clear.”

When asked whether surgery was on the table, Carrick did not rule it out. “Yeah, there’s different things to look at. I think he recovered really well actually from the initial one, and there was a lot of time, and sometimes things get thrown up — the body does certain things and we’ve got to react to that and try and get him back as quick as we can.”

Sesko had originally aggravated the problem during the closing stages of last season, playing through the pain before making it worse in a match against Liverpool in early May. He sat out the entirety of pre-season as a result.

With Sesko ruled out of the upcoming clash against Tottenham, there is better news elsewhere in the squad. £70m midfielder Carlos Baleba is edging closer to his first competitive appearance after clocking minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Lausanne-Sport. He was named among the substitutes against Fulham three weeks ago without featuring.

“He’s certainly getting closer, Carlos,” Carrick said. “It’s been great to have him out on the grass and to see him up close really. He has missed a lot, and he’s missed crucial time in terms of the end of pre-season, and there’s a little bit of patience there for him to get up to speed. But he offers us a lot.”