Peter Crouch is tipping Benjamin Sesko to make an instant impact in the Premier League. Sesko has arrived at Manchester United in a whopping £74m transfer from RB Leipzig and will spearhead a revamped £200m attack alongside Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.
The 22-year-old bagged 21 goals in 45 appearances for Leipzig last term and represents one of several thrilling new forwards in the division.
“The favourites for the Golden Boot will be Alexander Isak, if he gets his situation sorted out, Erling Haaland and Mo Salah, the same old faces,” Crouch told the Mirror.
“But out of the new faces, Sesko is the one that I like watching. I’m excited by him. There’s still the fact that he hasn’t played in the Premier League and that is something that you have to look at.
“Can he settle straight away? But he’s the player that excites me the most out of the new signings.”
Sesko has pitched up at Old Trafford after Arsenal chose to snap up Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon instead.
The Gunners splashed £64m on the former Coventry striker, who found the net an incredible 54 times in 52 matches for Sporting last campaign.
Gyokeres was weighed up by Ruben Amorim for a potential reunion at United, but will instead operate under Mikel Arteta this season.
Arsenal tracked Sesko extensively over recent seasons before plumping for Gyokeres, though Crouch remains more enthused by the Slovenia international. “Obviously he’s a proven goal scorer. I know someone who worked with him when he was in England previously,” the former Liverpool striker said of Gyokeres ahead of United vs Arsenal on Sunday.
“It was strange that he was let go. He went out to Sporting and banged in loads of goals and I’m sure he can do the same for Arsenal. But how quickly will he settle?
“It strikes me that Sesko is the man to hit the ground running. You just never know. If he gets a couple of goals then he’ll be full of confidence, he could go on a mad run because he’s more than capable of it.”
United have splashed the cash up front after managing just 44 goals in 38 matches as they limped to 15th place last campaign.
Alongside Sesko, they’ve opted for tried-and-tested Premier League talent in Cunha, who found the net 15 times in the league for Wolves in 2024/25, and Mbeumo, who netted 20 goals for Brentford.
Crouch reckons their new attacking arsenal can fire United up the table this term.
“There are some great signings,” he said.
“But the forward line needed work, didn’t it? It was misfiring all last season and Bruno Fernandes got them out of a real hole at times.
“Cunha and Mbeumo – it’s not like they haven’t played in the Premier League, they were both brilliant and scored a lot of goals last season. And Sesko is a top player.
“I think they will be a force. It was an awful year for them last year. I think there will be a huge improvement and they will finish in and around the top six.”
