Ruben Amorim has given an update on whether £74million summer signing Benjamin Sesko is ready to start against Arsenal this weekend.
The Slovenia international arrived last week as the marquee signing of the summer at Old Trafford, joining £62.5m Matheus Cunha and £71m Bryan Mbeumo in a total overhaul of Manchester United’s attack.
But while Cunha and Mbeumo had the US pre-season tour to bed into the squad, Sesko has had just a handful of training sessions.
That, however, seems to be no barrier to the 6ft4 striker leading the line against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon in the eyes of Amorim.
‘We have not had a lot of time but he’s ready,’ Amorim said on Friday.
‘First of all, physically he’s ready and that’s a big component in our league. Then he’s really smart. Every detail that he asks, he is a guy that is always thinking.
‘He spends all afternoon here working on his fitness so he’s ready to play, we’ll see if he’s going to start.’
He continued: ‘I’m really happy. He has great potential in everything he does. He can play different types of football.
‘He’s going to feel that Premier League is really aggressive. He’s going to learn but he has great potential.
‘I can see Ben being a striker for Manchester United for a lot of years, that is why we pay so much money to have a striker that will have his history in our club.’
Joshua Zirkzee and Andre Onana have both returned to fitness and are also contenders to start against Mikel Arteta’s side.
Amorim opted against using a No 9 in the final pre-season game against Fiorentina, leaving Rasmus Hojlund, who has interest from Fulham and AC Milan, unused on the bench but it is viewed as unlikely he opts to repeat the trick for the opening game of the season.
Sources at United are already speaking glowingly about Sesko’s inquisitive nature in training and that is a trait that has quickly endeared him to his manager.
‘He is always thinking about football, he’s really obsessed about that and that is a good thing,’ Amorim added.
‘You don’t have to think about that aspect with that young guy.
‘I don’t need to tell Ben, ‘Ben, this is Manchester United, a lot of pressure, you have to perform, you need to be ready for the physicality’… with that guy I don’t have that concern, I have the opposite… enjoy a little bit.’
