Gary Neville has issued a stark warning to Manchester United about the potential impact of Benjamin Sesko on their defensive solidity. Despite this, the former Red Devils skipper is adamant that head coach Ruben Amorim should give the Slovenian striker his first start against Grimsby Town in Wednesday night's fixture.
The forward was signed from RB Leipzig over the summer for a hefty €76.5million (£66.4m), with an additional €8.5m (£7.3m) in add-ons, and penned a five-year contract. The Old Trafford outfit were quick to secure the deal, confident that the 22-year-old preferred a move to Manchester over Newcastle United.
But since his arrival at M16, Sesko has yet to make a starting appearance for Amorim's squad, having only come off the bench against Arsenal and Fulham so far this season. It is widely anticipated that the striker will be given his first start in the League Cup clash against Grimsby on Wednesday night (8pm).
Neville, however, has expressed his concerns about Sesko, suggesting that the No. 9 is not yet physically ready to make a significant contribution to the team. "Sesko, at the moment, let's just say it, he's nowhere near in terms of fitness or just getting up to speed," he told Sky Sports.
"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's 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, then put [Mason] Mount into midfield, and took Casemiro off, they did get opened up and it looked like Fulham could score."