Erling Haaland has completely taken the Premier League by storm since moving to Manchester United’s noisy neighbours at the start of last season.
To put into perspective just how influential the number nine has been, he’s netted 56 goals in 61 Premier League appearances, along with providing 13 assists.
However, things could have looked very different had Ole Gunnar Solskjaer convinced the United hierarchy to sign the forward for just £20m.
Luckily, there’s a Haaland clone currently on the market, meaning that United could sign their own version of the Norweigan.
Man Utd could sign their own Haaland
According to a report from The Standard, Man United want to sign centre forward Benjamin Sesko.
The Slovenian only moved to RB Leipzig in the summer, but he could be on his way to the Premier League in the summer.
The striker reportedly has a £43m (£42.7m) release clause in his contract that’s set to activate at the end of the season, and his wage demands 'will be lower' than other striker options.
However, Arsenal and Chelsea will provide competition for the signature of Sesko, potentially making it difficult to sign the 20-year-old given the London club's lack of a true centre forward.
How Sesko compares to Hojlund
Sesko has often been compared to Haaland, as previously mentioned, but where do these comparisons come from?
Firstly, the two attackers are very similar from a stylistic point of view in regards to their height, athleticism, and finishing, while they’ve also followed a similar path to success, truly making a name for themselves at RB Salzburg before a move to the Bundesliga.
Furthermore, just like Haaland, the 20-year-old has taken Germany by storm, scoring an impressive nine goals and providing two assists in just 13 starts, with football scout Jacek Kulig calling him the “Slovenian Erling Haaland.”
This is a better league record than United’s current striker, Rasmus Hojlund, who’s netted seven himself, but how do the youthful duo actually compare?
Goals
0.68
0.35
xG
0.49
0.34
Assists
0.15
0.10
Shots
2.81
1.55
Passes completed
13.36
13.05
Goals/shot
0.24
0.23
Shot-creating actions
2.20
2.50
Touches (att pen)
5.24
4.10
As you can see, the two strikers are actually rather similar in terms of their style of play and what they bring to the table based on their stats from their respective leagues this season.
Firstly, it’s clear that the duo are the definition of goalscorers, whose entire game revolves around putting the ball in the back of the net.
Hojlund and Sesko are both relatively clinical finishers, with their goals/shot ratio being among the best in their leagues and their xG being lower than their output; however, it’s clear that the Leipzig ace has more opportunities to get a strike away at goal.
Both players rely on service to perform, as shown by their lack of creativity or influence in build-up play. This in particular has been a problem for Hojlund this season in the poor United team, as he often goes games without a sniff in front of goal.
Although Sesko has the potential to be a “future icon,” as dubbed by Kulig, his similarities to Hojlund mean that Erik ten Hag, or whoever is in charge next season, would have two attackers who offer the same threat.
Therefore, it may be a wiser decision to sign a player with a slightly different play style to Hojlund, in a similar way to how Sesko currently thrives alongside Lois Openda.
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