Benjamin Sesko was considered among Europe’s top prospects before he had barely become a teenager.
Born in the small Slovenian town of Radece, an hour’s drive east from the capital Ljubljana, Sesko, now 21, was expected to follow in the footsteps of his father, Ales, and become a goalkeeper.
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.
After scoring over 50 goals in one season for his local club as a boy, Sesko was offered a space in the academy at first-division side NK Domzale. From that moment, his stock has increased year-on-year. Within 12 months, he had offers from Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Ajax, among other top clubs.
Instead, he opted to go to Red Bull Salzburg in Austria in 2022.
Sesko celebrating at Salzburg in 2021 (Martin Rose/Getty Images)
Sesko signed at 16 after Salzburg prepared a long-term plan for his development within the Red Bull football group. The first step on this path saw him loaned to Austrian second-division side Liefering, Salzburg’s reserve team. He would then play for Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga before moving to RB Leipzig in Germany (if he desired).
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.)
As outlined in The Athletic’s Transfer DealSheet, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Newcastle United are among the Premier League clubs interested in securing his signature. Newcastle even had an offer rejected for him two summers ago when he was still at Salzburg.
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 has a release clause in his contract, believed to be for a fee in the region of €65million (£55.3m, $70.8m). If he is to move, Arsenal appear best-placed to sign him despite Manchester United holding direct talks in the summer of 2022. United eventually decided against seriously pursuing the then-19-year-old. They had question marks over whether he was ready to step up 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.
After scoring a brace from a 16-minute appearance off the bench in a 3-0 away win over Union Berlin in his second appearance for the club, Sesko would go on to only score one league goal until the end of January (13 games). He struggled to find consistent game time and adjust to the Bundesliga. But that goal in January, away to Stuttgart in a 5-2 defeat for Leipzig, saw Sesko’s form in front of goal improve considerably.
Between that goal and the end of the season, Sesko scored 11 in 15 league games and added two assists. Only Serhou Guirassy of Stuttgart, who scored 28 goals, overperformed against his expected-goals (xG) tally more than Sesko across all players in the Bundesliga.
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.
Elite clubs will be encouraged by his ability to score from all areas around the box, too; with an average goalscoring distance of 13 yards, he is more than just a poacher. Sesko may have space to improve as a finisher — particularly in ensuring good contact in instinctive moments — but he has the ball-striking quality with both feet and is a willing enough shooter to suggest there is another level or two for him to reach.
At this stage of his career, his most complete goalscoring attribute is his heading ability. With his stature and athleticism, it is no surprise that Sesko is such an aerial threat, but he combines power with finesse in the air. In Leipzig’s 2-2 draw with Augsburg in February, he demonstrated his aerial quality with a headed goal from 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.
The Slovenian leapt highest and delicately guided the ball towards the far corner, beating the outstretched goalkeeper with a mix of placement and power.
For Arsenal, who have excellent wide delivery through Bukayo Saka, having another option at the point of attack to profit from crosses makes sense as they attempt to close the gap on Manchester City in the Premier League.
But in the modern game, centre-forwards for elite sides must offer more than just goals — and Sesko is becoming a more rounded No 9. The smarterscout pizza chart (below), which gives players a rating (from 0 to 99) to assess how often a player performs an action or how effective they are at it compared with players in their position, draws attention to Sesko’s defensive work.
He ranks highly among European strikers in ball recoveries and interceptions (80), suggesting he has good defensive timing and eats up loose-ball opportunities.
He also ranks above average in link-up play volume (58), a key attribute for top clubs aiming to retain possession in the final third. He combined well with attackers Lois Openda and Xavi Simons in a Leipzig shirt this campaign.
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.
Sesko took a while to find his feet in Leipzig (Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images)
While each player should be assessed on their merits, it’s worth remembering that former Leipzig striker Timo Werner moved to the Premier League after a 28-goal Bundesliga season in 2019-20 and has failed to live up to those expectations in English football with Chelsea and now Tottenham Hotspur.
However, on the same note, Erling Haaland — a player Sesko is reluctant to be compared to despite Haaland playing for Salzburg before moving to Germany — took little time to start his record-breaking scoring rout 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 match against England at the Euros on the horizon, an impressive performance could further increase the hype from Premier League fans for their club to sign one of Europe’s most in-demand young talents.
(Top photo: Ronny Hartman/AFP via Getty Images)
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