‘Fantastic attack’ - Man Utd transfer ‘surgery’ has worked but more required as Michael Owen assesses the tactical approach of Michael Carrick

Slovenia international Sesko, who was acquired for £74 million ($98m) during the summer of 2025, established a reputation as something of a super-sub across the second half of his debut campaign at Old Trafford.

That tag is proving difficult to shake, with the 23-year-old frontman yet to start a Premier League fixture this season - with Carrick’s XI only being made in Champions League and Carabao Cup fixtures.

Sesko is the only out-and-out No.9 that United have on their books at present, with any temptation to bolster those ranks being resisted for now. United have been famed in the past for boasting the deepest of striker pools.

When winning the Treble in 1999, Sir Alex Ferguson was able to rotate Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Several other superstar forwards have passed through the Theatre of Dreams since then - including Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney.

In the present, versatile Brazilian Cunha is often being deployed down the middle. He has Bryan Mbeumo and Marcus Rashford either side of him - with the latter more than capable of stepping inside off the left flank if required.

Will that system serve United well in the long run? When that question was put to Owen, the title-winning former Red Devils striker - who was speaking in association with HelloMillions (Sweepstakes Casino) - told GOAL: “It can work, it has worked in the past. Pep Guardiola won a league without hardly playing a centre-forward. There's other teams that have done it as well in Spain.

“It can work and I do think, when you look at it on paper, it's a fantastic attack. I really do like that and I think they've invested heavily in it. They didn't score a goal against City, but the way they attacked against Ipswich, scored five goals - I know it's not a Manchester City defence they were up against versus Ipswich, but I do think that their attack is not necessarily their main problem.

“They can have off days, but I actually quite like the make-up of that. I think there's some good players and I think there's some game-changers on the bench as well and I think they've done the surgery to that area of the pitch a little bit of time ago.

“The recent surgery seems to be focused on midfield and I would have thought the next bit is looking at their defence.”

United headed into the first international break of 2026-27 on the back of a three-match winless run. Just two points have been taken from the last nine on offer in Premier League action, leaving them 12th in the top-flight table.

They are yet to keep a clean sheet in the league this season, through five fixtures, and have seen questions asked of why defensive reinforcements were not sought during the last transfer window - as the Casemiro-less engine room took priority.

Another opportunity to add will present itself in January, with it possible that full-backs and centre-halves will figure on the Red Devils’ shopping list. They may also explore the option of bringing in another goalscorer as Cunha has rarely been prolific over the course of his career and Sesko is yet to convince everybody that he can be the main man.