Benjamin Sesko’s form in a Manchester United shirt has taken a real upturn in the last couple of weeks. The Slovenian forward has scored twice in his last two games, scoring against Brentford in the 3-1 loss away from home, and the second in a 2-0 win at home to Sunderland.
United content creator Dev Bajwa has certainly been left impressed by the young centre-forward. He called his all-around play “impressive” and said that his “technical qualities are clearly there” in his game.
The United number 30 has certainly started life at Old Trafford well.
Interestingly, he has not had a faster start to the season than Rasmus Hojlund, the man he replaced.
Hojlund’s start to the season compared to Sesko
After struggling to nail down his spot in the starting lineup under Ruben Amorim, Danish striker Hojlund went out on loan to Napoli for the 2025/26 campaign. Like Sesko has at United, Hojlund has hit the ground running in Italy.
The 22-year-old, who was born in Copenhagen, has already found the back of the net four times for Napoli this season, in just six appearances, double Sesko’s tally. Half have come in the Italian top flight, and the other in the Champions League.
So, not only has Hojlund outscored Sesko this season, but the Dane is also bettering him when it comes to minutes per goal.
The on-loan Napoli star averages one goal every 117 minutes, with Sesko’s goals coming every 237.5 minutes.
Napoli’s Scudetto-winning boss, Antonio Conte, was full of praise for the striker. The Italian said that the 22-year-old “has great potential, he can grow and improve,” suggesting the best is yet to come.
So, a loan move away from United clearly worked for Hojlund, allowing him to get minutes under his belt and thrive. Another young Red Devils striker is currently on a similar path.
The United striker on the same path as Hojlund
It is a shame things did not work out for Hojlund at Old Trafford. Just looking at how well he’s playing this season is enough to be able to tell just how much of a talent he is.
He certainly could have been excellent at United if platformed well.
Well, United may have a striker headed down a similar path under Ruben Amorim. It has not been an easy season for 17-year-old Chido Obi. There are simply no opportunities for youth under Amoirm, which goes against the DNA of the club, and Obi has fallen foul of that.
In fact, the former Arsenal youth striker, who was described as a “monster” of a centre-forward by football analyst Ben Mattinson, has not even been on the bench for the first team this season.
That might be a surprise to many, given how much trust Amorim placed in Obi last term. The 17-year-old played eight games for the Red Devils, but did not manage to find the back of the net.
He also became the youngest ever player to start a Premier League match for United.
Let’s not forget how clinical Obi has been at youth level. The Dane, born in Glostrup, has an exemplary record for both United and Arsenal in academy football.
He’s currently sat on 49 goals across under-18 and under-21 level.
Arsenal u18s
21
32
Man United u18s
10
12
Man United u21s
11
5
Denmark u17s
19
12
Denmark u18s
4
2
Denmark u20s
4
2
It is easy to see how this situation is similar to Hojlund’s last season. The Napoli star fell out of favour under Amorim, and needed a loan move to revitalise his career.
Whilst Obi is only 17 and not at that sort of stage yet, he would surely have been hoping for more first-team minutes given his involvement last term.
Perhaps, like his compatriot, a loan move is the way forward for Obi. It will guarantee him regular first-team minutes, and if he is able to score a few goals like Hojlund has managed, it would do his confidence the world of good.