Benjamin Sesko | Despite Raees best efforts he’s joining Liepzig. Damn you Raees

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Rocksy

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If they’d have offered £30 million at the end of May, then this transfer would surely be in the bag (and probably considered a bit overpriced).
 

VanHaal'sRedArmy

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United has no choice but to take risks like this in the window. If you leave him at Salzburg for another year and he shows signs of progress/potential then all the major European clubs will be at his doorstep. Get him in now, let him adapt to EPL football for a season, and when/if Ronnie leaves, you'll have a ready-made replacement.
 

Champ

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He was 18. Comparing that to a 26 year old.

When you are looking at someone who is 19 years old you have to focus on everything other than stats at that point. It’s not his fault he’s so young. You have to scout him and does he pass the visual test. Does he seem to have attributes that would be valuable. Everything he has right now has the potential to grow massively. Some young players you have to see do they have the X-factor and likely to go far. Young players are always a gamble.

If we base it just on him scoring 11 goals in the league last season, that means nothing for a 19 year old who wasn’t playing every game.

When Rooney arrived at Utd, most would agree he was electric from his first season. You could see he was going to go to the top. However, if you just looked at the fact he only scored 11 premier league goals in his first season it doesn’t look as impressive. In fact, in his first 5 seasons at Utd he scored 11, 16, 14, 12, 12 league goals respectively. We all know he offered a lot more than his goal tally suggested.
Understand all that.

However 5 league goals in 979 minutes of football still isn't great, compare that with Amads output in Scottish football which is of a similar ranking to the Austrian league and it's not looking great still.

Stats without context are pretty useless however, but it's clear that Toney is a more rounded and complete player right now. If United are buying for this season then someone like Toney is the way to go, if we are buying to sell on (which is more than probable) then Sesko is the way to go, however it's a big risk at the money being asked.
 

sglowrider

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All it shows is there are no sure things but 20/20 hindsighters.

Only one in the last 3-5 yrs has been Haaland. Even the more expensive Nunez isn't a sure thing.
Everyone else will be gambles even by professional scouts standard.
 

Abraxas

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I'd rather play without a 9, even if it's a false 9, than pin our hopes to a kid from the Austrian league. His numbers aren't that impressive. Mitrovic and Solanke wouldn't even go for £60M, and they were top scorers in the Championship. Mitrovic went for £22M, and Solanke went for £19M. Signing Sesko for £60M is fecking madness.
I'm not sure we would be pinning all our hopes on him, but yes he would have some responsibility due to our forward options as they are. It's probably more the case that we don't see a proven, available striker that we think is good enough, so we're having to go for raw potential that may be very good in 2-3 years. It's a very risky strategy if Ronaldo leaves. But maybe they realise these stop gap strikers haven't really been great for us.
 

SportingCP96

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I'm not sure we would be pinning all our hopes on him. It's probably more the case that we don't see a proven, available striker that we think is good enough, so we're having to go for raw potential that may be very good in 2-3 years. It's a very risky strategy if Ronaldo leaves. But maybe they realise these stop gap strikers haven't really been great for us.
Ya but once again, Nunez who was top scorer of Portugal and scoring goals for elite clubs in the CL was sold for 75M + Objectives so how does Sesko warrant such a absurd fees for pedestrian numbers still in a league of that level.

I am not sure a club who is balling on a budget can pay these kind of sums for what ifs and maybes.
 

Abraxas

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Ya but once again, Nunez who was top scorer of Portugal and scoring goals for elite clubs in the CL was sold for 75M + Objectives so how does Sesko warrant such a absurd fees for pedestrian numbers still in a league of that level.

I am not sure a club who is balling on a budget can pay these kind of sums for what ifs and maybes.
Who says we will? There's a chance that Salzburg will compromise. If they don't, there's also a chance we won't buy him - we've seen that story before. The transfer hasn't unfolded yet. I agree that fee would be extortionate but it's an if and a maybe, just like Sesko himself.
 

Wing Attack Plan R

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I'm not sure we would be pinning all our hopes on him, but yes he would have some responsibility due to our forward options as they are. It's probably more the case that we don't see a proven, available striker that we think is good enough, so we're having to go for raw potential that may be very good in 2-3 years. It's a very risky strategy if Ronaldo leaves. But maybe they realise these stop gap strikers haven't really been great for us.
Maybe Ighalo is not busy…
 

mobmob

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My take on this guy:

1) Never heard of him until two weeks ago
2) Watched highlights Vs Liverpool looked good
3) Watched a few games from last year looks a decent prospect, with a high ceiling
4) Our situation with Martial going down, this guy is a must get in! A gamble, Yes......but I would rather gamble on this kid and be wrong than gamble on the other old hags like Vardy! We will get two years out of Vardy, but if we are right on this kid, he will be here for 5-10 years.
5) Price tag, £40-£50million or what it's going to take is too much, this guy is £25million but we have left it lastminute.com so price has skyrocketed as they also know our striker situation, we are desperate for depth. Just suck it up it's not your money and won't likely effect the De Jong budget.
6) It looks like a desperation signing, because it is, but it could turn into a great signing if he hits his ceiling! So for me go get him, worth the roll of the dice!
 

Skills

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We should offer them a 100m, with 70m of it payable when he wins the ballon d'or
 

sglowrider

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My take on this guy:
6) It looks like a desperation signing, because it is, but it could turn into a great signing if he hits his ceiling! So for me go get him, worth the roll of the dice!
The ol' philosophical transfer window question -- is it a 'desperation' signing if he then goes and wins the golden boot? I bet if he does, 90% of caftards will be claiming that they saw him play when he was 6y.o and have been waiting for Murtough to pull the trigger since he was 15.
 

Woodzy

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6) It looks like a desperation signing, because it is, but it could turn into a great signing if he hits his ceiling! So for me go get him, worth the roll of the dice!
We need a striker, there aren’t many decent options available and this guy has offers from a few big clubs (most of those don’t even need him). This says to me there might be something about this player,

I’ve never seen him play either, but going on the above I’d say it’s not quite a desperation signing.
 

phelans shorts

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We need a striker, there aren’t many decent options available and this guy has offers from a few big clubs (most of those don’t even need him). This says to me there might be something about this player,

I’ve never seen him play either, but going on the above I’d say it’s not quite a desperation signing.
I’d also add to that how we tried to sign the player while he was still in Slovenia. He isn’t throwing stuff at a wall
 

diarm

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A detailed comparison of last years league performance of Šeško, Nunez, Haaland, Haller and by popular demand ... Ivan Toney :D. Important to note that Šeško was 18 years of age and not fully established in his clubs first 11, whilst others were at least 3 yrs older (Haaland, others even older) and obviously already established in their respective clubs first teams, so its best to look at stats per 90 mins played. Obviously Šeško played in the easiest league by far, but as I said, you have to take into account that he is also far younger than others.

Key observations - positive:
  • Šeško is the most two-footed (equal amount of goals with either foot + has the smallest difference between left and right sided passes),
  • attempted 2nd most passes (Haller 1st with 4 attempts more, 3rd Toney with 3 less) and completed the 2nd most passes (again Haller 1st)
  • pass accuracy is 71.17 % which is 3rd best but by really fine margins (1st Haller with 72.93) - Nunez and Toney trail visibly here
  • 2nd most passes completed in oppo half (1st is Haller)
  • 1st in backward passes, 2nd in sideways passes (very similar numbers to Haller here, with others noticeably behind)
  • 2nd in short passes completed
  • 3rd in long pass accuracy (better than Haaland and Toney)
  • 2nd in take-ons completed
  • 3rd in successful lay-offs (after Haller and Haaland)
Key observations - negative:
  • takes the most shots, but has the worst conversion rate and shot accuracy only better than Toney (although he hit the woodwork 5 times, substantialy more than anybody else),
  • loses possesion the most
  • has most unsuccessful take-ons and the worst take-on success
  • aerial duels success % only better than that of Nunez
  • worst ground duel success %
So the main conclusion would be, that Šeško puts himself about, and is very willing to get involved in the build up but as with his finishing, he needs to make his efforts more effective.

TL;DR: In many aspects Šeško is very similar to Haller (but of course not as good right now) so its not hard to guess what role would he play for Ten Hag and why our manager wants him. Sorry for the long post.
Taking just Sesko and Haaland, as they were in the same league so a fairer comparison:



For a player 3 years younger, he really doesn't compare badly to a guy every club in the world wanted this summer. The big question is whether or not he can turn those hit woodworks into goals as he matures. If he can, then his strike rate is right up there with Haaland (1g/pg vs 1.1g/pg) who didn't hit the woodwork at all.

Sesko is behind on assists, but ahead on chances created suggesting perhaps a difference in the quality of teammate more than anything else.
 

Loony BoB

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Taking just Sesko and Haaland, as they were in the same league so a fairer comparison:



For a player 3 years younger, he really doesn't compare badly to a guy every club in the world wanted this summer. The big question is whether or not he can turn those hit woodworks into goals as he matures. If he can, then his strike rate is right up there with Haaland (1g/pg vs 1.1g/pg) who didn't hit the woodwork at all.

Sesko is behind on assists, but ahead on chances created suggesting perhaps a difference in the quality of teammate more than anything else.
This is actually really interesting, are these per-90-minute stats or per game? Guessing per 90.
 

lex talionis

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If the alternative is not bringing in a CF, I’m on board with spending 50m on Sesko.

We’ve got a striker problem that cannot be ignored.
 

Escobar

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If the alternative is not bringing in a CF, I’m on board with spending 50m on Sesko.

We’ve got a striker problem that cannot be ignored.
And if he's as talented as it looks right now, this 50m will look like a steal over the next 10 years
 

swissgenius

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I think he had the right idea but then went off the rails. :lol: . A better comparison would be comparing Haalands statistics from his Salzburg time to Seskos ones.
here you go:

So that's Sesko from 21/22 and Haaland from 19/20 first half of the season before the transfer, meaning he was half a year older than Sesko.
It's a good comparison, since both played nearly the same minutes for the same, dominating team.

To nobody's surprise, Haaland was much more clinical and successful at creating chances and goals.
But I have to admit, Sesko being more involved in the game and better at passing the ball is not what I expected from the eye test, but good to see.
 
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NinjaZombie

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here you go:

So that's Sesko from 21/22 and Haaland from 19/20 first half of the season before the transfer, meaning he was half a year older than Sesko.
It's a good comparison, since both played nearly the same minutes for the same, dominating team.

To nobody's surprise, Haaland was much more clinical and successful at creating chances and goals.
But I have to admit, Sesko being more involved in the game and better at passing the ball is not what I expected from the eye test, but good to see.
Sheesh. From that stat pack (although I was opposed to him coming because of who his agent was), it's fair to say we'd have been better off had we spent 40-50m trying to get Halaand straight in from Leipzig. His goalscoring stats were incredible.
 

Infra-red

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Sheesh. From that stat pack (although I was opposed to him coming because of who his agent was), it's fair to say we'd have been better off had we spent 40-50m trying to get Halaand straight in from Leipzig. His goalscoring stats were incredible.
16 goals and 4 assists in under 11 games. He's a monster and will hit 30+ league goals at City every season if they create chances at the rate they usually do.
 

DJ_21

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What’s there to think about? One of the biggest clubs in the world wants you and you have to think? You automatically become more popular and a lot more well known by joining a team like us. Would do the young guy wonders coming here…
 

Cassidy

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What’s there to think about? One of the biggest clubs in the world wants you and you have to think? You automatically become more popular and a lot more well known by joining a team like us. Would do the young guy wonders coming here…
He has offers to play as a starter from Bundesliga clubs. Wouldn't be surprised he choses them over warming the bench here
 
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