World Soccer - UK (2022-05)

Red Bull Salzburg

In a sentence
Although the18-year-old Slovenian
striker has been hampered by a recurring
thigh problem this season, he has been
compared to former Red Bull Salzburg
superstar striker Erling Haaland.

What they say
“He has all the ingredients to develop
into an international class striker in
the coming years. He has made
huge progress in recent times”
Salzburg sporting director
Christoph Freund

“For someone of his age, Benjamin
Sesko is already bringing a lot to the
table. He has proven his worth for both
[Salzburg] and the Slovenian national
team. He’s a complete player, but is
still young of course and needs time
to get himself ready for the next
steps in his career”
Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle

The story so far
Born in the eastern Slovenian town
of Radece in May 2003, Sesko grew
up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic as his hero.
After shining in the junior ranks of NK
Radece, Rudar Trbovlje and NK Krsko,
scoring 59 goals in 23 starts for the
latter’s Under-15s in the 2017-18
season, he was headhunted by
leading Slovenian club Domzale.
After another 21 youth team goals
in the 2018-19 campaign, word began
to filter out of Slovenia of his prowess.
Yet despite reported interest from
Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich and
Dortmund, the then-16-year-old opted
for the safer option of a contract with
perennial Austrian champions Red
Bull Salzburg inJuly 2019, joining
in a€2.5 million deal.
The goals continued to flow on loan
at Salzburg’s second-division feeder
club Liefering. After a relatively quiet
first campaign, he contributed 21 goals
and six assists as Liefering came
second in last season’s league.

He returned to Salzburg last summer

• where his former Liefering manager
  MatthiasJaissle had been appointed
  head coach – and was thrown in straight
  away, scoring three league goals before
  mid-September.
  After earning international honours
  at various levels (Under-15, Under-16,
  Under-17 and Under-19), he won his
  first full Slovenia cap in a friendly against
  North Macedonia inJune 2021 – at
  just18 years and one day old – and
  scored his first goal four months later.

The next step

With Salzburg’s current top scorer

Karim Adeyemi certain to move on in

the summer, a vacancy for an exciting

talent at the top of the team is about to

open up, and Sesko is a ready-made

replacement. The club hope to keep

him on board for the next couple of

WordsNick Bidwell

Benjamin SESKO

years, having tied him to a new

contract untilJune 2026, and expect

him to flourish further as an automatic

starter. Some of Europe’s biggest clubs

may have other ideas, though. According

to German dailyBild,thelikesofBayern

Munich, Liverpool and Manchester City

are all monitoring him very closely.

Strengths

The Erling Haaland comparisons are

drawn from his height, physical power,

presence, dynamism and straight for

goal instincts. Extremely mobile, he

is deceptively quick over the ground,

has great ball control and can dribble

well too. A clinical finisher.

Weaknesses

Needs to be slightly more collective

in his mind-set, as he occasionally

tries to do too much on his own.

R

ED

B

U

LL

S

TA

R

LE

TS

“He’s a complete player”

Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle

lSesko’s mother is Bosnian, yet he

turned down the Bosnian federation

when they attempted to persuade

him to represent them.

lHe is both Slovenia’s youngest

ever debutant and goalscorer.

lHe ended last season in unstoppable

form for Liefering, scoring18 goals in

the final14 games of the season.

3

THINGS YOU

DIDN’T KNOW

ABOUT SESKO