Manchester United Pre-Season Update: Tielemans In, Sesko Out

Manchester United head to Gothenburg this weekend with the spotlight fixed on Paris Saint-Germain, a glamour venue, and a new face in red. Yet the loudest noise around the club concerns a striker who is not even on the plane.

Tielemans in, Sesko out

Michael Carrick has named a 22-man squad for Saturday’s heavyweight pre-season meeting with the European champions, and there is at least one major positive. Youri Tielemans, the summer arrival, has been included in a United travelling party for the first time, joining captain Bruno Fernandes in a group that looks close to full strength.

Benjamin Sesko is the glaring omission again.

The Slovenian, who aggravated a shin problem against Liverpool late last season and missed United’s final three matches, was widely expected to use pre-season as his springboard into a bigger role. The injury was described as minor. The plan was a straightforward one: rest, recover, reset.

That plan has stalled.

A “minor” injury that will not go away

The club never flagged the issue as serious. The former RB Leipzig forward, now 23, finished last season with 32 appearances, 12 goals and 1 assist in 1,817 minutes – a solid platform to build on. This summer was supposed to sharpen his edges, not dull them.

Instead, Sesko has yet to play a single minute of pre-season.

He has been seen at Carrington, working away from the main group, but he has not rejoined full training. Manchester Evening News reporter Steven Railston has stated that the Slovenia international is “stepping up his rehabilitation” and remains on schedule to be fit for the start of the campaign. Inside the club, the message is calm: no need to panic.

Outside it, the mood is different.

Fans remember De Ligt

United have not confirmed whether Sesko will link up with the squad at their training camp in the Republic of Ireland next week. That uncertainty is fuelling the unease.

Supporters have started to draw uncomfortable comparisons with last season’s handling of Matthijs de Ligt. The Dutch defender was initially expected to miss only one match. He then disappeared from contention for six months. What began as a minor issue turned into a long-running saga that never quite made sense from the outside.

The echoes are hard to ignore. Sesko’s knock was also labelled “not too serious”. Weeks later, he is still on the sidelines, watching pre-season drift by.

Race against time for sharpness

The calendar is now United’s biggest opponent. Sesko wears the No.30 shirt and stands 6 ft 5 in, a classic focal point for Carrick’s attack, but a striker’s edge lives in rhythm – the timing of runs, the instinct in the box, the snap in his finishing. Those things do not come back with a few days of training.

By missing almost the entire pre-season schedule, Sesko has surrendered the one thing players cannot buy: match sharpness. Even if he is medically cleared before the opening weekend, Carrick faces a decision. Throw him straight into competitive action undercooked, or ease him in and accept a delayed impact from a key attacking option.

For now, there is still a chance he features in at least one friendly before the new term kicks off. If that opportunity slips away, United will start the season with their towering centre-forward fit on paper but short of the one quality he needed most this summer.