The £35m wonderkid wanted by Arsenal and Man Utd - and why he’s struggling in Germany

He’s been of the most hotly-tipped young strikers in the game for some time now, and anyone who plays Football Manager will be intimately familiar with his name – but Benjamin Šeško’s big summer move hasn’t worked out quite as planned, and that’s set the rumour mill spinning, with reports that no fewer than four Premier League teams are interested in signing the Slovenian from RB Leipzig.

Šeško signed in the summer from Leipzig’s sister club Red Bull Salzburg for a fee rising to €24m – a mate’s rate price that was half of what he was on sale for as far as anyone else was concerned. Fresh off the back of scoring 23 goals in the Austrian Bundesliga, a great deal was expected of the youngster, but instead he’s had to content himself with just two league starts for his new side with French forward Loïs Openda hogging the minutes.

Not that Šeško has looked shabby when he’s been on the field – he’s scored three times in the league despite his limited gametime, including a brilliant brace against Champions League qualifiers Union Berlin, and has also bagged against Young Boys in Europe. All of his goals in both league and Champions League have come from the bench, however.

As it stands, Leipzig head coach Marco Rose seems to see Šeško as an impact sub – and with Openda on fire ahead of him, there is talk that the Slovenian is growing impatient. The same talk also suggests that Leipzig aren’t averse to selling him on quickly if they get a healthy return on their investment. So if any of the Premier League sides linked are interested, he would set them back at least €40m.

The clubs in question are Arsenal, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Chelsea – clubs for whom his role would vary between developmental to immediately essential. Would he offer the quality and instant impact needed for the outlay? Unless Leipzig give him some more top-flight minutes, it’s hard to say – but there’s no question that there’s some quality there.

Physically, he’s already the complete package – he’s quick off the mark, strong and, at 6’4” or so tall, immense in the air with a prodigious leap in his feet. He’s also a fine finisher who exhibits great movements, especially down the channels, finding space quickly and making sure he’s regularly occupying goalscoring areas.

But there are plenty of rough edges to sort out – his first touch isn’t the best and can take the ball away from him, causing him to lose shooting chances. His balance isn’t brilliant and he can be knocked off the ball by savvy defenders, and while he’s great at peeling off from defenders down the sides of the box, he can struggle to generate the same room in a packed area or under close marking. Perhaps unexpectedly, given his physique, he isn’t a natural hold-up man, and wouldn’t suit any squad that wants one.

The big question over Šeško is whether he’s best suited to being a lone number nine or whether he would work best as part of a front two. Certainly he needs someone around him who gets into the box, taking defenders off him and creating space for the kinds of late darting runs he does make so well. All four of the clubs mentioned in connection with his signature play with a lone number nine, so there’s a risk that he might not pan out at any of them.

Arsenal, with their compact positioning and with players like Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka drawing defenders around the box, seem to make the most sense on paper, and he could be a good back-up option if the Gunners need some depth or decide to move on from Eddie Nketiah. Newcastle, by contrast, seem like an odd fit, especially given the presence of Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson already.

United’s direct style and struggles to get midfielders up to the front line quickly in support of play mean that they may not be a great fit for the Slovenian forward, although they certainly need some additional options up front and there’s every chance that Šeško could develop the positioning traits needed to thrive on a diet of direct balls. Chelsea look like a better fit in terms of getting enough bodies forward to give Šeško space to thrive, but his relative paucity of hold-up skills might not suit a team looking to break quickly from midfield.

He represents an interesting conundrum for a number of teams – a player who would probably be best suited to a two-forward system that simply isn’t in vogue at the top teams in England, but who has all the physical attributes to fit the tactics of a number of clubs but has nevertheless not mastered the tactical skills required to make the most of them. Šeško is a sublimely gifted goalscorer in need of the right landing pad and the right coaching to develop him further and sand off the edges a little.

Will anyone take the punt? That remains to be seen. If Šeško is frustrated by spending so much time on the bench, he’s yet to complain publicly, and it may well be that he wants to wait a little longer before giving Leipzig up as a bad job. But if he does come to the Premier League, he would be one of the most intriguing prospects to develop in England for some time.