September 21, 2026 at 06:01 PM
||Injury
Man Utd ready to take €40m gamble amid Benjamin Sesko injury concern
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Man Utd ready to take €40m gamble amid Benjamin Sesko injury concern
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Manchester United are mulling over a move for Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy amid concerns over Benjamin Sesko 's fitness.
The Slovenia international has repeatedly been sidelined since joining the Red Devils in a deal worth potentially up to €85 million. After playing in the Carabao Cup loss to Brighton midweek, Sesko was forced to sit out Man Utd's dull 1-1 draw with Fulham on Sunday.
Speaking after the match, head coach Michael Carrick confirmed that the club are worried about a recurring shin problem. "We're not sure with Ben yet," he said.
"He felt a bit of pain after the game, so we're assessing him. At the moment, he definitely wasn't ready for [Fulham], so I haven't really got any more news to give you at this point. We'll have to see what that brings."
Reports in Slovenia suggest that Sesko is set to undergo a scan in London today, Monday, to establish the extent of his injury. The striker has not featured for his country in almost a year, and there is a fear that he will remain absent from the national team.
Man Utd could sign a striker in January
Despite Sesko having missed much of pre-season, Man Utd decided against adding a forward this summer, instead opting to prioritise the midfield. At the time, this made some sense.
With Joshua Zirkzee, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, Man Utd have players who can fill in at centre-forward. Clearly, though, the situation is far from ideal, and the No.9 might become an area of growing concern.
Indeed, claims that Man Utd are "assessing" whether reinforcements are needed in January. One player once again under consideration is Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy.
The Old Trafford club have been tracking the Guinea international ever since he established himself as a Bundesliga star at Stuttgart a couple of years ago. His good form has continued at Dortmund, although there have been notable dips, too.
The striker situation at Dortmund was quite awkward last season, with Guirassy and Fabio Silva battling for the same spot. This term, manager Niko Kovac has struck the right balance, and the two attackers have actually struck up a fruitful partnership when they have played together.
After a summer in which both players were keen to leave the Black and Yellow, this has been a spectacular turnaround. Guirassy has scored four goals in six games so far in this nascent campaign, and it could have been more - he had two strikes disallowed against Paderborn the other day.
Guirassy has been gunning for a move to a European giant for some time, and while his scoring record would merit such a transfer, it hasn't materialised due to his age.
He is 30 now, which naturally makes him unattractive to elite clubs, especially considering his price. In the summer, he had a €40m release clause that only a select few top clubs could have triggered. Man Utd were among those teams.
However, the only serious interest Guirassy received came from Turkey and Saudi Arabia. This allowed Dortmund to set his price, and they had no intention of offering discounts as they were desperate to keep their star striker.
This situation is unlikely to be different in January. On the contrary, with no release clause to speak of, Dortmund will dig their heels in and fight tooth and nail to keep him.
Signing a veteran with an impressive goalscoring record like Guirassy could be just what Man Utd need in their current situation, but prising him away from Dortmund will be a challenge - and a huge gamble.
Spending big on a 30-year-old who was previously considered injury-prone - he hasn't had any major problems in recent years, admittedly - would make this a very ribroadcaster signing for Man Utd and run counter to their recent transfer strategy under INEOS.

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