Manchester United handed new Benjamin Sesko blow as six could miss Bournemouth clash

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·12 de dezembro de 2025

Manchester United handed new Benjamin Sesko blow as six could miss Bournemouth clash

Ruben Amorim has given a full update on latest Red Devils team news for Monday night visit of the Cherries to Old Trafford

Manchester United could welcome back Benjamin Sesko against Bournemouth, though the striker has been hit by illness following his recovery from injury.

Vídeos OneFootball

The Red Devils have been without their summer signing for more than a month after he sustained a knee problem during the last-gasp 2-2 draw at Tottenham on November 8.

Sesko has been progressing well towards a return and agent Elvis Basanovic said earlier this week that his client was “feeling very good” and was “really eager” and “impatient” to play, suggesting that he could be back “very soon” and earlier than it might have been expected.

United boss Ruben Amorim has now appeared to confirm that the Slovenia international - who remained out of training on Thursday - is indeed recovered from that knee issue after missing the last four matches, though could be sidelined again for Monday night’s visit of Bournemouth to Old Trafford after battling a bout of illness in recent days.

“We have to see if he’s available,” Amorim told reporters on Friday. “He had some [food] poisoning, but we’ll see. Let’s wait.

“We have two trainings still. Benjamin we will assess.”

Amorim confirmed that United would definitely remain without defenders Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt against Bournemouth. Like Sesko, Maguire has also not played since the draw with Spurs due to a hamstring injury and is yet to resume training at Carrington.

De Ligt, meanwhile, missed the recent games against West Ham and Wolves with an unspecified knock that his manager believes is a back problem with which the club won’t take any unnecessary risks.

“Maguire is out, De Ligt is out,” Amorim said. “I think he [De Ligt] has something in his back, I don’t know for sure.

“Sometimes you see it’s not a big injury because he finished the game quite well against Crystal Palace, but he has some pain.

“You sometimes think it will be solved during this week, but sometimes he feels a little bit of pain and we have to be a little careful with that.”

Perhaps United’s most pressing unresolved issue ahead of the game against Bournemouth is discovering whether or not Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo will be available for selection.

The game takes place on the same delayed date that clubs are obliged to release players for the latest edition of the Africa Cup of Nations and United remain in talks with the respective associations of Morocco, Ivory Coast and Cameroon to see if an agreement can be reached that will see the trio involved in one final match before departing.

“I expect today to have a decision or maybe tomorrow but we are waiting until the last moment to have all the players available, to choose the best team to start the game,” Amorim said.