Benjamin Sesko’s injury will hit Ruben Amorim and Man Utd hard, but if handled deftly, it can further elevate a wonderkid who’s already on another level.
The worst fears of Man Utd didn’t come true with Benjamin Sesko’s injury, but an absence of one month is still unfortunate because there are no international breaks to break up club football anymore.
Sesko will miss many Man Utd games, and it’s a headache for Ruben Amorim because he was starting to use him in big games as well.
What has happened is out of anyone’s hands, but how to navigate this problem is in Amorim’s hands, and a prolific wonderkid is waiting in the wings, waiting to be unleashed.
Ruben Amorim must bring back Chido Obi to first team
The natural alternative to Sesko in the Man Utd squad is Joshua Zirkzee, while Amorim has also experimented with Matheus Cunha as the No. 9.
Who should start as striker for Man Utd with Benjamin Sesko injured?
However, Zirkzee has one foot out of the exit door, while Cunha deserves better than to toil thanklessly as a striker when he can be so much better in his natural position.
Enter Chido Obi, who had a baptism by fire last season in a chaotic end to the season, but is a different player now.
Obi walked away from the spotlight this season to hone his game back with the Man Utd U21s, and instead of looking at it as a demotion, he thought of it as gearing up for a higher jump.
That jump should arrive now with Sesko’s injury, because Obi has become a much more well-rounded striker who looks ready for first-team football.
Obi has garnered rave reviews from his coaches, and he’s been consistently training with the first team.
Moreover, going from Alejandro Garnacho behind him to Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo is bound to help him get better chances as well.
This one-month period without Sesko could easily be the breakout party for Obi. It will leave Cunha in his natural position, and if Zirkzee does want to leave, United should invest in Obi as their future.
Obi’s breakout will help Benjamin Sesko as well
While Sesko’s injury is unfortunate, it is also a blessing in disguise because it puts him out of the firing line at a crucial moment.
After two poor games against Forest and Spurs, the media cycle was turning and vilifying him as a failure.
Now that he’ll be out of the spotlight for a month, he can come back to a refreshed narrative because the news cycle in football moves quickly.
In the meantime, the ideal scenario would be for Obi to show himself capable of handling a first-team role on a rotation basis.
If that happens, Sesko will be helped as well, because he can then take a backseat in the odd game and reset himself when things aren’t working, instead of trying to force through.
That’s a privilege that wasn’t afforded to Rasmus Hojlund, and it ultimately trapped him in a vicious cycle.
No injury is a good development, but Sesko’s issue has multiple silver linings to it, both for himself as well as the team.
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