“Unfortunately” – Carrick delivers devastating injury update as Man Utd star will be out for a while
Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick confirmed that Benjamin Sesko is set for a long spell on the sidelines.
The Slovenian joined the Premier League giants in August 2025 on a £72 million transfer from RB Leipzig. Sesko replaced Rasmus Hojlund, who was sold to Napoli, and became Man Utd’s first-choice centre-forward.
The 23-year-old had his highs and lows last season, but he played an important role for the club, especially following Carrick’s arrival in January.
Carrick confirms Benjamin Sesko is out for a ‘longer’ period
Unfortunately for the Slovenian bomber, he has been dealing with a shin problem since the final weeks of the previous campaign.
Sesko thus missed out on Man Utd’s entire pre-season, before making his return to action as a late substitute on the opening day of the season against Hull.
However, the striker was far from his best physical condition, and he was eventually forced to stop once again, particularly before the Premier League contest against Fulham in September.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Sesko could remain on the sidelines until January.
While Carrick didn’t disclose a timetable for the player’s return, he has now confirmed that he’s indeed set for a long period on the treatment table.
“Yeah, unfortunately Ben looks like he’s going to be out for a period of time,” said the 45-year-old in Thursday’s press conference dedicated for Saturday’s game against Chelsea (via the Manchester Evening News).
“We’re still not clear of exactly how long, but it’s going to be for a longer period of time. It was the process, as I said to you before, we had to go through the process, a bit of a healing process for the injury to see how it would react and what direction to go with that. Even now we’re still working through it.
“But it’s unfortunately, obviously first and foremost, for Ben, for the kind of period that he’s had, and tried to get through it and going through this again, and for us to not have him available is obviously a blow, but we’ll try and get back, get him back as quick as we can.”
Sesko’s injury compounded by poor Man Utd transfer campaign
Last summer, INEOS dedicated their market for the midfield revamp, signing Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos, and Carlos Baleba, in addition to backup goalkeeper Karl Darlow on a free transfer.
On the other hand, all other playing departments weren’t addressed, including the attack.
Therefore, with Sesko out of action, Carrick is forced to resort to Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, and he even fielded Bruno Fernandes as a false 9 on some occasions.
Joshua Zirkzee is supposedly Sesko’s most natural replacement, but the Dutchman is an option that the gaffer simply doesn’t fancy, as he’s yet to start a game this season.
The former Bologna star was supposed to be sold in the summer and make way for a replacement, but Jason Wilcox and Co. fell short on this front.
