AC Milan target Benjamin Sesko has all the characteristics of an elite striker but they will have to act fast if a move is to be completed in the summer transfer window.
As highlighted by La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Milan News) in a profile of the Slovenian forward, he has many different qualities that hint at a long career right at the top of the game.
Sesko is currently viewed as one of the first alternatives to Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee in the hunt for a new striker who can be the eventual replacement for Olivier Giroud.
Sesko is playing for RB Leipzig and has been going from strength to strength this season, his first in Germany. He controls the ball very well and is clearly adept at shooting with both feet. He is also a good header of the ball, making himself a real presence in the opposition box.
The 20-year-old has netted 11 times this season across all competitions. Four of his seven Bundesliga goals have come in the last eight games, so he is hitting some better form towards the end of the season.
As well as being important for Leipzig, he is a leader for the Slovenian national team and helped them qualify for Euro 2024, their first major tournament in 14 years. If Milan are to sign him, they will have to move quickly.
Yes, we should act fast! If not this guy I’d like Guirassy or Boniface
Yeah guirassy is cheaper for 17.5mio right.
Prefer Sesko to Zirkzee, even though the latter hs Serie A experience..
He looks like the ideal profile to lead the line for many years.
Question is, would he want Milan?
He is currently playing in attack with Openda, Simmons and Olmo for Leipzig.
They were narrowly defeated by Madrid in CL knockout 2-1.
So they are at least as good as Milan if not better.
Perhaps he will prefer to develop where he is and then wait for a move to a richer team
He is a fan of Ibra, and might want to learn from Ibra one thing or two.
A lot will depend on how we play, do we want a big target man or a faster more mobile striker. I’d prefer the latter, someone who can run in behind for an Adli or Rafa through ball. I like Sesko but I do have a hunch on Jonathan David. Almost like in 1995 when we were linked to Casiraghi, Asprilla or the relatively unknown George Weah. The former two seemed the most obvious, but George was George and the rest is history.
I’ve also watched a lot of His highlights and he runs off the shoulder of the last defender often from deep lying passes and balls into the channel, the kind of passes Rafa, Adli or Theo make. He’s quick, has good box awareness and a calm finish.
I think at this stage I’d go with Jonathan David
And yet our offense has been very successful with a target man like Giroud finishing assists and bringing the ball down for the likes of Leao, Pulisic and RLC. What will happen when we have to play a team playing with 5 defenders in a low block? What channels will David or another “mobile striker” run into then? I say Sesko if we can’t get Zirkzee.
And equally as many times this season we have possession, build up play nicely then Adli is stood 40-50 yards from goal with no options. We need someone who works the penalty box and can run in behind. Jonathan David is more than capable of playing in the box and finding space as a no9 as well, he has good hearing ability. We need pace. We don’t have it now. A mobile front 3 of Rafa-David-Pulisic with Chuk and Okafor as options with Jovic as that more poacher style for me works.
I don’t agree our offence has been successful, there are too many times we haven’t killed games off, or despite huge possession haven’t really created much of note. A Jonathan David gives us more of a counter attack threat too. I keep referring to the KDB to Haaland threat, it gets city out and down the pitch into a goal scoring position in 2 moves.
Our inability to kill of games is more a result of lack of finishing than anything else. Of course anyone can miss from time to time, but Exhibit A is Leao’s miss against Verona. All he needed to do was place the shot, but instead he went for a bit more power than necessary and it went wide. That’s partially an experience thing and a coaching thing. Here are our positions in goals scored in the league and league standing for the last four seasons:
2020-21: 5th (only by 3 goals)/2nd
2021-22: 4th/1st
2022-23: 4th (only by 2 goals)/4th
2023-24: tied 2nd/2nd (through 29 games)
I’ll point out that for three of those four seasons, we had almost no offense from the right wing. This season we do, and voila, we’re second in goals scored. I’ll also point out that this season Rafa is still in single digits, as opposed to the two prior seasons where he hit double digits. So overall, I would say our offensive problems have less to do with production out of the CF position, and more to do with RW (solved this season) and perhaps overall offensive tactics. All we need is a like for like replacement of Giroud and we’re fine. This should be the focus, and then shoring up defense, which has leaked like a sieve and has been the second worse defense in the top 10 for the past two seasons (currently tied with Napoli and Lazio).
Man said “the relatively unknown George Weah”!
Weah won the Ballon D’or in 1995, 4 months after he joined Milan. They didn’t give it to him because of what he did in those 4 months at Milan but because of what he was already doing in PSG where he was the best scorer in the UCL that season. Weah was already performing on a high level in France. He was 29 when he joined Milan.
I’m well aware of Weah’s career, in watched unfold live in tv. The point being that Serie A was far and away the best league of which both Asprilla and Casiraghi were performing superstars. Ligue 1 wasn’t up there at this.
The ballon d’or was a much meritocratic system back then and he was rightly awarded the ballon d’or. I also think him kicking on in those early games for Milan scoring great goals did influence the decision.
The other thing to emphasise is that with the exception of one season for PSG on 18 goals, George’s scoring record wasn’t spectacular, he never broke 13 goals for Milan, which compared to the likes of MVB, Zlatan, Sheva etc isn’t great, but George was a big game player and a scorer of great goals, he also allowed the team to perform better. You’re right about his 94-95 CL season, he was emphatic but that didn’t necessarily translate to his career as a whole. I’m a big fan of his by the way, in the latter part of the 90s before the Zac scudetto he literally dragged us over the line
I just have a hunch that Jonathan David maybe the missing piece of the machine up front….just an opinion
Spot on in the analysis of those days, except for I would say it was Bierhoff who won that scudetto almost singlehandedly, with key goals from Weah and Leonardo (and Ganz!). Weah barely broke double digits in each of his seasons with us, and we only returned to the title when we had a real bomber like Bierhoff or latterly Shevchenko/Inzaghi up top, and even later with Ibra. And not that none of these guys were “fast”, although Sheva had some speed it’s not what we’re talking about here. The need is for sheer goalscoring ability. I would rather a slower more traditional striker who will score 20+ goals than some speed merchant who will score 11 or 12. We have plenty of speed elsewhere on the pitch. We need someone who is a finished and will bring down or hold up balls to enable said quick players through on goal.
I’d like to skip to june/july to see who they will really buy in the end.. tired of the daily speculations
Maybe icardi or moratta, or guirassy if they act fast enuff
guirassy seems the most realistic if they can convince him over other clubs. Morata and Icardi both have huge salaries for Milan with the growtD gone
He also plays in two striker formation both in Leipzig and NT.
For consideration.
I guess we can sign this guy and he has precisely the profile we need.
I’d have liked to get Kalajdžić on loan with option instead of Jovic… too bad he got injured…. wouldn’t be surprised if we get a young physical striker from PL and also Guirassy and we’d call it a day. We need a valid backup though
Anything more (Jonathan David or Sesko or Zirkzee would be a bonus)