Slovenia manager criticises Man United over Benjamin Sesko's fitness management

Slovenia manager Bostjan Cesar has criticised Manchester United’s management of Benjamin Sesko’s fitness, saying he sees no value in the striker joining the national squad at half-strength after missing the end of the Premier League season with a shin injury.

Sesko, 22, was forced off during United’s win over Liverpool earlier this month after aggravating a shin problem he had been carrying for some time. He subsequently missed the club’s final three fixtures and will now be unavailable for Slovenia’s upcoming friendlies against Cyprus and Croatia.

Cesar’s frustration stems partly from a similar situation in March, when Sesko was withdrawn from the Slovenia squad during the international break to recover from a minor fitness issue — only to return quickly and feature regularly for United in the weeks that followed.

“He missed the last assembly in March and then I kind of wanted him to be absent from United for a while, but then he came back quickly and I don’t think he missed a game for the club,” Cesar told reporters on Monday. “But if a player hasn’t been in a competitive rhythm for a month, then I don’t see the point in him coming and playing at half-strength.”

The Slovenia manager did acknowledge that formal medical communication between club and country is in place. “In cases of injuries, the national team receives all the documentation, and then we decide together with their doctors what is best,” he added.

United interim head coach Michael Carrick addressed Sesko’s condition ahead of the club’s goalless draw with Sunderland on May 9, the first match the striker missed with the recent injury. “Ben’s been carrying a shin problem for some time and he took another quite a big bang on it, obviously he had to come off last week, so he wasn’t ready today,” Carrick said.

This is not the first time tension has surfaced between United and the Slovenian football federation over Sesko’s availability. In November, Slovenia were reported to be unhappy with a perceived lack of communication from the club regarding the striker’s fitness.

Despite the friction, Sesko has had a productive debut season at Old Trafford since arriving from RB Leipzig last summer in a deal worth around £74 million. He scored 12 goals in his first campaign, with seven of those coming after Carrick was appointed interim head coach in January.