The final whistle blew at Craven Cottage, but the quiet, frustrated hum of the away support told a story of more than just a 1-1 draw. It was a story of a team still searching for its identity, a defense breached, and an attack that felt disjointed. In the midst of the post-match dissection, a familiar voice cut through the noise: that of club legend Rio Ferdinand. His critique was not a general lament, but a laser-focused verdict on a central figure in this new era—Benjamin Sesko, the striker signed for a reported €99 million, who remains largely a phantom on the pitch.
Ferdinand’s words were a direct challenge to the tactical approach under manager Ruben Amorim. He watched as the Manchester United players “played around” the towering Slovenian, a ghost in the machine of an attack that seemed to actively avoid him. “You are not getting to see who he is,” Ferdinand declared, highlighting the disconnect between the club’s massive investment and the player’s baffling non-involvement. The former defender’s frustration was palpable, a call to return to basic principles: “Get the ball into him and make them defend.”
With just two substitute appearances so far, the 22-year-old Sesko, who scored 21 goals for RB Leipzig last season, is caught in a purgatory of potential. He is on the pitch, but he is not in the game. This curious situation, as Ferdinand noted, leaves everyone in the dark. “I would rather you play it into him and he look rubbish so we know what we’ve got,” he said, delivering a blunt assessment of a striker who, for now, is simply an expensive question mark.
As one highly-priced striker struggles to find his place, the future of another hangs in the balance. Reports from Italy indicate that Rasmus Hojlund, the Danish striker who joined the club in 2023 for a significant fee, is now a target for Napoli. In an intriguing twist, it is not a coach or an agent making the pitch, but his former teammate, Scott McTominay, who has reportedly taken on the role of private recruiter.
McTominay, now a key player for Napoli, is said to have personally called Hojlund to convince him to move to Italy. Hojlund’s future has become uncertain at Old Trafford after he failed to live up to his initial price tag and with Sesko’s arrival. The reported loan-to-buy deal would mark another chapter in the turbulent saga of Manchester United’s forward line, a scene of high-stakes transfers, frustrated pundits, and the quiet, unsettling presence of a player still waiting to be truly seen.
