Benjamin Sesko was regarded as one of Europe’s brightest prospects even before he reached adolescence.
Born in Radece, a small village in Slovenia an hour’s drive east of the capital Ljubljana, 21-year-old Sesko was expected to become a goalie like his father Ales.
However, his towering 6ft 5in (195cm) frame and insatiable hunger for goals quickly steered him towards a different path that would later see him lead the line for his country and RB Leipzig.
Sesko was given the opportunity to join the academy at first-division team NK Domzale after scoring more than fifty goals in a single season for his hometown team as a young player. His stock has risen every year since that time. In less than a year, he had offers from a number of elite teams, including Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, and Ajax.
Instead, he opted to go to Red Bull Salzburg in Austria in 2022.
After Salzburg created a long-term strategy for Sesko’s growth within the Red Bull football squad, the 16-year-old signed. He began this journey by being loaned to Salzburg’s reserve team, Liefering, in the Austrian second level. After that, if he wanted to, he would play for Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga before relocating to RB Leipzig in Germany.
And his career has panned out exactly as Red Bull outlined. Now, after a stellar first season with Leipzig, in which he scored seven goals in his final seven games on his way to 14 league goals he’s firmly back on the radar of the elite. (That’s if he ever left.)
The Premier League teams interested in signing him are Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Newcastle United, as detailed in The Athletic’s Transfer DealSheet. Even while he was still at Salzburg two summers ago, Newcastle had an offer for him turned down.
Given the player’s age, physical attributes and impressive goalscoring record, it would not be surprising to see other clubs from England and the continent register their interest in the coming weeks.
The forward’s contract has a release clause; it is thought to be for a payment of about €65 million (£55.3 million, $70.8 million). Despite Manchester United and Arsenal having direct discussions in the summer of 2022, Arsenal seems to be in the greatest position to sign him if he decides to move. In the end, United chose not to pursue the 19-year-old aggressively. They were not sure if he was prepared to take over from Salzburg.
Leipzig, however, are still working to persuade Sesko to remain in Saxony. After all, it took Sesko a while to get going after signing from Salzburg last summer for €24million.
On his second appearance for the team, Sesko scored a brace in 16 minutes off the bench in a 3-0 away victory over Union Berlin. However, he would only score one goal in the league through the end of January (13 games). He found it difficult to settle into the Bundesliga and secure regular playing time. However, since that January goal, which occurred in a 5-2 loss for Leipzig away to Stuttgart, Sesko’s goal-scoring performance has significantly improved.
Sesko scored 11 goals and tallied two assists in 15 league games between that goal and the season’s conclusion. Out of all the Bundesliga players, only Serhou Guirassy of Stuttgart (28 goals) outperformed Sesko in terms of anticipated goals (xG) tally.
But what’s more impressive is the variance in how he found the back of the net.
While Sesko prefers to dribble with his right foot, he’s as adept at finishing with either. Three of his 14 Bundesliga goals came with his left, as did a goal against Young Boys in the Champions League and an excellent whipped effort from the edge of the box for Slovenia against Finland in October.
His ability to score from all over the box will also inspire elite clubs; at an average distance of 13 yards, he is more than just a poacher. Sesko may still need to work on his finishing, especially when it comes to making strong contact in impulsive situations, but he has the ability to strike the ball with both feet and is a willing enough shooter to indicate that he has one or two more levels to go.
His heading ability is his most complete goalscoring attribute at this point in his career. It is not surprising that Sesko is such an aerial menace given his size and athleticism, but he also mixes skill and power in the air. He showed off his aerial prowess in Leipzig’s 2-2 draw with Augsburg in February when he headed home a Dani Olmo cross.
Olmo received the ball on the edge of the right corner of the 18-yard box and shaped a cross towards Sesko, who was positioned between the penalty spot and the far post.
With a combination of strength and placement, the Slovenian player beat the outstretched goalie by leaping highest and expertly guiding the ball towards the far corner.
Having another option at the point of attack to capitalize on crosses makes sense for Arsenal, who have great wide delivery in Bukayo Saka, as they look to cut the gap on Manchester City in the Premier League.
However, elite teams need their center strikers to provide more than simply goals in the current game, and Sesko is developing into a more versatile No 9. Sesko’s defensive efforts is highlighted by the smarterscout pizza chart (below), which rates players (from 0 to 99) based on how frequently they execute a certain action or how well they are at it in comparison to players in their position.
He ranks highly among European strikers in ball recoveries and interceptions (80), suggesting he has good defensive timing and eats up loose-ball opportunities.
Additionally, he has a higher-than-average link-up play volume (58), which is a crucial quality for elite teams looking to hold onto the ball in the closing third. In a Leipzig shirt this season, he worked successfully with strikers Lois Openda and Xavi Simons.
Still, Sesko is very new to elite football. Top clubs will note the time it took for him to adjust to the Bundesliga last season and will be wary that there is still only a small sample size in which he scored consistently.
Even while every player should be judged on their individual merits, it is important to keep in mind that Timo Werner, a former striker for Leipzig, came to the Premier League in 2019–20 after scoring 28 goals in the Bundesliga, but he has not lived up to the hype in English football, playing for Chelsea and now Tottenham Hotspur.
On the other hand, Erling Haaland, who played for Salzburg before relocating to Germany and whom Sesko is hesitant to compare to, did not take long to begin his record-breaking scoring rampage after joining Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.
With an affordable release clause providing an element of clarity that does not exist with other leading strikers, Sesko’s suitors will remain on high alert this summer.
And with a game against England at the Euros coming up, a strong showing may heighten Premier League supporters’ excitement about their club acquiring one of the most sought-after young players in Europe.
(Top photo: Ronny Hartman/AFP via Getty Images)
