'He's nowhere near' - Gary Neville delivers brutal Benjamin Sesko verdict as Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim faces selection 'problem'

The Red Devils invested £74 million ($100m) in Sesko when a protracted search for a new No.9 led to them completing a big-money deal with RB Leipzig. The Slovenia international has been eased into Premier League life off the bench.

His competitive debut came in a 2025-26 opening weekend defeat to Arsenal, before being given 37 minutes in a 1-1 draw away at Fulham. Sesko struggled to make an impression in either outing, with questions being asked of how match ready the 22-year-old frontman is.

United legend Neville told Sky Sports after watching another frustrating performance from Ruben Amorim’s side at Craven Cottage: “I said this last week and it's a little bit worrying: Fulham got a lot stronger when they made their substitutions, I actually thought United got worse when they made theirs. Sesko, at the moment, let's just say it, he's nowhere near in terms of fitness or just getting up to speed.”

Neville added on efforts to get minutes into Sesko, which are making selection calls tricky for United’s Portuguese coach: “Ruben Amorim said before the game that there is a clamour to play him. Last week, I was saying, 'look, let's just get him straight in'.

“He is going to have to get him in against Grimsby and give him 90 minutes. He's going to have to probably play him against Burnley next Saturday, just to get him going, because you can see he needs football.

“What you can't do is let a player of that value, that potential, just keep being on the bench. The problem he'll have is that he wants to keep [building] the team, but I think what you saw when they brought Sesko on, put Mount into midfield and took Casemiro off, they did get opened up and it looked like Fulham could score.”

United will be in second round Carabao Cup action against League Two outfit Grimsby on Wednesday, with that contest providing Amorim with an opportunity to shuffle his pack and present opportunities to those that are still searching for a spark.