GdS: ‘Ibra’s stamp’ – why RB Leipzig striker has convinced everyone at Milan

By Oliver Fisher -

It is no secret that AC Milan are in the market for a new striker ahead of the summer, and a report has claimed that Benjamin Sesko is the name that seems to have everyone in agreement.

As today’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, Olivier Giroud’s time at Milan will end after the final three games of the season and he will join Los Angeles FC, which means the management need to replace his goals.

They ‘have every intention of trying’ for Sesko, a young centre-forward who has 16 goals with RB Leipzig this season after 29 with Red Bull Salzburg last season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has also given his ‘stamp’ of approval regarding the 20-year-old and can be said that he reciprocates the respect, because Ibrahimovic was Sesko’s idol.

The Slovenia international combines technique and physicality like Zlatan did, which is why the Swede and the rest of the management have voted in favour.

The price did not discourage the CEO Giorgio Furlani either because even though he has a contract until June 2028 it features a €50m release clause, a figure that could rise to €75m.

Milan will not pay the full price but believe they can start a negotiation with the Germans. Leipzig are a tough club to deal with and do not need to sell, but the Rossoneri have the budget to tempt them.

Ideal profile

Sesko will have to take up the legacy of Giroud, who in turn had replaced Ibrahimovic at the centre of the attack. Among the candidates for the role, Sesko is the one who has characteristics closest to those of the last great Milan strikers.

He is tall (195cm) and strong (85kg), as well as having already demonstrated that he is perfectly at ease in the penalty area. This season he has scored 12 goals in the Bundesliga (five in the last five games), two in the Champions League and as many in the German Cup.

Sesko’s identikit matches the profile that Milan are trying to find: he is young but has already shown great talent, has a salary in line with the parameters and a potential that over the years can be exploited.

A player like this is sought after throughout Europe and in fact there is no shortage of international competition, yet Milan are convinced that they have gained an advantage in the race.

They made the move even before choosing the new coach, certain that whoever that is will appreciate finding a striker of his value in the team.

Cost TBD

Sesko could be the most expensive signing in the entire history of the club. Today the record belongs to Leonardo Bonucci, bought for €42m from Juventus in the summer of 2017.

Benjamin would be a calculated and low-risk deal: he has his whole career ahead of him to repay the expense and the trust of the management, while his career so far shows that his value continues to rise.

In 2019 Sesko was purchased by Salzburg for €2.5m and resold last summer to Leipzig for €24m. That price today has more than doubled.

In addition to the variable clause, his performance with the Slovenian national team in the European Championship could also affect how much he costs, because he got five goals and two assists in the qualifiers.

The list still includes the likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Serhou Guirassy and ​​Viktor Gyokeres, but Sesko’s CV convinces most of all. Given his age and characteristics, he would be the perfect answer to the questions that the Rossoneri fans asked during last Sunday’s protest.

Tags AC Milan Benjamin Sesko

22 Comments

  1. More trash from GDS. His value is exaggerated, it’s far above Zirkzee’s. The only thing he has on Zirkzee is he’s younger and taller. His finishing is horrific. If you thought Giroud was wasteful, wait until you see this guy. The Bundesliga has a history of players who crap the bed when in front of goal, the fraud Werner and Mario Gomez being the most obvious examples. There’s less pressure playing in the Bundesliga, that’s why players like that thrive. That’s not to say Sesko wouldn’t improve, he should improve, but at €60-70 million, you want the finished article. Zirkzee is quicker and has more flair – he would be the first forward we’d had since Gullit with that combination of physicality, pace and flair (excluding Van Basten of course because he’s on another level as a finisher compared to Gullit).

    1. Never been impressed when I’ve seen Sesko but besides that, we’ll never pay that much so why waste time and just go for Guirassy. Otherwise we’ll lose out on both.

      1. “Milan will not pay the full price but believe they can start a negotiation with the Germans.” What the F is this. Just pay the release clause or buy Guirassy if can’t afford for Sesko, don’t push yourself if you don’t have enough budget to buy some world class players this summer.

    2. Bro he is 20 years old. many years to work on his finish. at least he is producing goals.. I would be happy with both if he sign at least one of them.. But I rather prefer Sekso I think has more potential and is more constant at all even Zirkzee has the better Skills..

    3. Accurate on a few areas for sure. I don’t quite dislike Sesko as much as you do,but Zirkzee offers more. He could also be a false 9,too. Sesko,could not.

  2. Either Guirassy or Sesko or whatever name Milan are linked to, when inter enter the race ro sign either, definitely they are getting the player.

    Milan lacks strategy, so dumb and dull.

    1. cuz the managers are banker and accountants. only knows how to deal with money but not how to manage ambitious football club like Milan

  3. Milan lacks ambition our owners are too cheap they don’t want to spend on players they don’t want to pay better salaries

    1. Owners that spent over €100 million are not cheap and Milan pay high salaries. That Inter gave Thurman a ridiculous contract is irrelevant to that.

      1. Owners that re-invested the 110 millions from CL qualifications and players sales for 10 players it’s cheap taking an average out.

      2. They only spent 30ml last year that’s less than what we got from cl entrance I don’t know if you are talking another ac milan but the one i know is very stingy and allows their best players to leave for better salaries from other teams you can’t compare this to inter, inter pays 5ml 6ml 7ml 8ml our best paid is 5ml

        1. What are you talking about? Did you actually do the math? It isn’t just about signing players. There’s agents fees as well as salaries before tax, and now that the growth decree is gone players are going to want more money as they will be paying more in tax. You need to take all of these factors into consideration instead of sucking numbers out of your thumb. Operating costs for a club like Milan are massive which is why we were in so much debt and on the verge of collapse to begin with. The club is in a healthy financial situation for the first time in almost 20 years.

        2. You can plow as much money in as you want it doesn’t mean you can just spend left and right, there’s a massive risk of FFP breaches, that’s why all the new sponsorship deals are super important to the club as those are judged as revenue brought forward. Unless you go the Man City route of FFP breaches and corruption as their owners did with creating companies and then signing their own companies as sponsors. Even the Premier League is going to implement spending caps and salary caps as only City, United and Aston Villa voted against it and all the other clubs for it. You need to keep up to date with the football world. Spending millions upon millions isn’t sustainable as the Premier League clubs have proved.

          1. Well put.

            Unfortunately I find that the more constructive and objective an argument, the less people here understand and process it.

            Seems easier to spend someone else’s money and call the club cheap.

  4. I never been impressed with this guy, yes he is young and would be a good deal for 20-25 mil but his evaluation of 60 mil is ridiculous.

    Also I posting 1 comment per day stop saying I m posting too quick!

  5. Not worth that kind of money. Would just be another Luiz Adriano. But worse. What we need in this lineup is a striker that operates like Carlos Bacca did for us. Zirkzee is the closest to that profile, strong, mobile and deadly infront of goal. Zirkzee doesn’t have the deadly finishing of Bacca but he can develop.

  6. Very funny , it is not like ACM will spend 50-75m euro for just one young player. It is not easy task to adaptation with serie A for striker from abroad,most of the team in italy league play defensive unlike germany club that open play . Better buy proven player in serie A like scamacca or zirkzee

  7. I find it hard to believe Milan will spend that much at once on a player… That’s a big risk. But let’s see how the summer plays out.

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