A big-money transfer to a massive club always puts a player in the spotlight, and it can be nigh-on impossible for most players to instantly live up to the expectation that their reputation and price tag bring.
It’s especially challenging when that big move involves a change of country and league, on top of the club environment where they’re working day-in, day-out.
This involves a lot of personal adaptation in addition to the all-around transition of work environment.
Benjamin Šeško (195cm/6’5”, 85kg/187lbs) was one of last summer’s many marquee centre-forward signings, joining Manchester United for a reported €76.5m fee in August.
It’s only since the turn of the year, however, that the Slovenia international has truly arrived at Old Trafford.
His ‘super sub’ appearances during the Michael Carrick era have resulted in goals, directly leaving the Red Devils five points better off, highlighting his impact off the bench in recent games, contextualising calls for the 22-year-old to break into Carrick’s starting XI.
This Benjamin Šeško scout report and player analysis aims to provide insight into Benjamin Šeško’s style of play and role at Manchester United in 2025/2026, with a particular focus on his form thus far in 2026.
Benjamin Šeško Stats
Back in August, Total Football Analysis published a scout report on RC Strasbourg striker Emmanuel Emegha.
In that piece, we compared the Dutch forward with Benjamin Šeško following the latter’s Manchester United transfer.
One of the key contrasts between the two strikers was Emegha’s tendency to remain in high-quality goalscoring positions between the posts.
Šeško, meanwhile, often drifted out to the wings from the centre with RB Leipzig in 2024/2025 and 2023/2024.
RB Leipzig utilised Šeško’s link-up play and dribbling from wide areas a lot, even though the Slovenian’s dribble success rate has never been impressive, nor is he much of a creator.
Šeško’s key desirable quality has always been his finishing ability.
He can drop off and link up, but he shouldn’t be looking to carry over long distances, beat a defender 1v1, or be seen as a playmaker; he’s a pure finisher.
He can drop back to quickly link up with the midfield when needed, and he can act as a catalyst to kickstart a counterattack, but outside of that, his on-the-ball involvement should be limited to what he can do inside the penalty box.
This is what we highlighted in August, and it’s what we’ve seen change dramatically in Benjamin Šeško’s game since joining Manchester United.
Take Benjamin Šeško’s respective heat maps for 2025/2026 and 2024/2025 below in Figures 1 and 2 as a comparison.
Benjamin Šeško Heat Map 2025/2026
Benjamin Šeško Heat Map 2024/2025
We still see a bit of activity from Šeško outside the box and in the half-spaces, but his on-the-ball involvement is more concentrated around the penalty spot this season, whereas it was more evenly spread at RB Leipzig.
This shows in Benjamin Šeško’s dribbling data.
He’s averaging 1.93 dribbles per 90 this term, down from 2.81 last season.
Furthermore, there’s been a slight increase in Benjamin Šeško’s shot rate this season, going from an average of 2.28 per 90 last term to 2.75 this season.
Perhaps that’s somewhat to be expected when moving from RB Leipzig to Manchester United.
However, the difference is even more stark when you look just at Šeško’s data from the beginning of 2026.
Šeško is averaging 4.38 shots per 90 in 2026, which is an astronomical jump.
Of course, this is a small sample size and an unsustainable number for the long run.
Erling Haaland at Manchester City is averaging 3.33 shots per 90 in the Premier League this season, for reference.
Still, it highlights how well Manchester United have done at getting the most out of Benjamin Šeško during his time on the pitch in 2026, especially, and provides some context behind his rise in form.
There’s a direct correlation between Šeško’s shot rate and xG rate, which has risen from 0.32 per 90 last season to 0.51 this season and 0.85 in 2026, and there’s been a similar trend with Šeško’s xG per shot during the same timeframe: 0.14 in 2024/2025, 0.18 in 2025/2026 and 0.19 in 2026 alone.
This is linked to Šeško’s change in role at Manchester United, where he is getting less involved off the ball in chance creation and can focus more on his off-the-ball movement to occupy high-value goalscoring positions, where the likes of Bruno Fernandes can pick him out and make good use of his world-class finishing.
Šeško has consistently outperformed his xG during his career, so it’s a sound strategy to deploy him as a pure finisher when the team has the ball and let him focus on getting into the best possible goalscoring positions where the Red Devils’ creators can look for him and optimise their goalscoring chances.
Benjamin Šeško Movement
When analysing a striker, I place a lot of weight on the player’s movement.
In Benjamin Šeško’s case, he’s a combination of extremely dangerous and extremely comfortable when given space to attack behind the opponent’s defensive line.
His size and competence in hold-up play also make him a valuable outlet against a deep defence or when Manchester United want to go long from the goal kick and win a second ball high upfield.
However, Šeško is at his most threatening when he’s able to storm in behind the opposing backline.
He’s a quick thinker and comfortable finishing with little time to think about the shot or with few touches.
His quality also enables him to finish from awkward positions or with a less-than-ideal body shape, making him a very valuable asset up front; he’s a threat even when the team isn’t creating clear-cut chances.
In Figures 3 and 4, we see Fulham trying to avoid collapsing into their box, soaking up as much pressure as possible as they seek to retain their point at Old Trafford.
This creates the conditions for Šeško to find space centrally and attack behind the Fulham backline.
As United get in behind Fulham’s defence on the wing, Šeško is making that direct run through the centre with pace and power that’s becoming a very familiar sight for the Red Devils.
Šeško receives centrally but with his back to goal.
He ends up having to take a snapshot on the turn under pressure, not ideal shooting conditions.
This doesn’t matter, as the Slovenian striker manages to stick the ball in the top corner, exemplifying the finishing qualities we’ve just described above.
The 22-year-old only needs a half-chance, which he’s able to help forge through his off-the-ball movement and the conditions that the game state created.
We see a similar run here in Figure 5 as Manchester United look to add to their lead late on against a defeated Tottenham Hotspur side.
Šeško’s pace and power help him quickly get into a very inviting position for Bruno Fernandes’ cross.
On this occasion, the resulting free header is saved.
It’s an example of a rare squandered opportunity from the clinical forward.
Still, the movement and tactical role enabled him to take advantage of a high-quality chance, which Manchester United can reproduce.
With Šeško’s quality, he won’t miss many chances like this, so while the finish was poor here, the success of the process is encouraging.
In Figure 6, against Everton, Benjamin Šeško has dropped back to the edge of his team’s penalty area to help them defend.
As Harry Maguire heads the ball away, Šeško is in position to recover it, quickly laying the ball off and enabling Manchester United to kickstart a counterattack.
He doesn’t take too much out of the ball, he lays it off with one touch and remains in position to support the team if needed as they look to play out of their third.
After a couple more passes from his teammates, he can start his run forward; this is ideal play from a centre-forward who seems increasingly aware of how to accentuate his strengths and minimise his weaknesses.
The clip shows the positive outcome of this move and highlights Šeško’s counterattacking threat.
As shown before, Šeško is able to provide a threat during settled possession play as well, especially when space is there to attack.
However, counterattacks really provide a fantastic platform for this striker to showcase his abilities, especially when he’s been introduced fresh as a substitute against a physically and mentally tired defence.
Conclusion
Specialising Benjamin Šeško’s role and focusing his game more on being a pure finisher than an all-around complete forward has been a welcome change in the Slovenia international’s game this season, which you’d expect to see result in improved goalscoring figures in future seasons than anything he’s achieved in the past, provided he stays on that path.
He’s had time to settle in at Old Trafford now and is beginning to seem more comfortable and confident in his new surroundings by the game.
Manchester United have an elite finisher in their ranks; they now just need to ensure they provide him with the best possible conditions to thrive, as they are doing at the moment.
They’ll ultimately be more dangerous with Šeško on the pitch from the start, moving forward, if they can continue to create these conditions in which he’s thriving and if they believe he’s ready to take that step for a consistent run of games.
With regard to whether Manchester United have succeeded in getting him to that point or not, from a personal and tactical standpoint, looking in from the outside, the signs are obviously very positive.
