‘Forget goals’ – Ferdinand claims Sesko reminds him of ‘joke’ former Man Utd player | OneFootball

Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand insists summer signing Benjamin Sesko has reminded him of former Red Devils striker Louis Saha this season.

Sesko signed for the Red Devils in the summer transfer window in a deal worth around £74m from Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig.

Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha also joined as Man Utd spent almost £200m on new attacking players after being the fifth lowest scoring side in the Premier League in 2024/25.

Sesko has been largely disappointing in his appearances for the Red Devils this season with two goals and one assist in 15 appearances in all competitions.

Ferdinand’s podcast host Joel Beya claimed that Sesko has not “hit the ground running the way he was supposed to” but Stephen Howson reckons he does the dirty work so Cunha and Mbeumo can thrive behind him.

“Sesko [offers more] than [just] goals. Yes, the strikers will be judged on their goals, but internally sometimes there are things that they bring to the table that you go, ‘You know what, that is huge’.

“You know who was like that? Louis Saha. He was never going to win the Golden Boot at Manchester United.

“But in terms of his value to the team, he was a joke some of the stuff that he would do to enable others to play better.

“He would get us up the pitch at times, he would hold the ball for three or four seconds at times to give us a breather.

“Forget goals with him. His all-round game… I was sitting there sometimes going, ‘Oh my God, I’m so happy he’s on our team’.

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“I think with Sesko, listen, we still want to see the goals. But I’ve seen a few parts of his game that I go, ‘Oh the other players are liking that’.

“I can see it. Manchester United haven’t had a striker who can just hold it up or flick it on for ages. Like just a simple little thing but effective.”

However, former Man Utd striker Teddy Sheringham has been disappointed by what he’s seen and insists the Red Devils should have signed Harry Kane.

Sheringham said last month: “Manchester United are asking too much of Benjamin Sesko. It’s a massive job to lead the line for them, the expectations are enormous.

“It’s always going to be tough for a young, inexperienced striker like Sesko to come into a club like Manchester United and hit the ground running. The club already tried that approach with Rasmus Hojlund and it didn’t work out.

“For me, United should have bought Harry Kane to lead the line when they were searching for a new striker. He would have guaranteed you 20-25 goals every season.”