Gary Neville has claimed £74million Manchester United signing Benjamin Sesko is ‘nowhere near up to speed’ following their 1-1 draw against Fulham on Sunday.
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast after the match, the former United defender said there was a ‘clamour’ to field Sesko from the start despite his recent arrival at the club.
Sesko, who joined from RB Leipzig in a bid to bolster Ruben Amorim’s attacking options this season.
But the 22-year-old was again restricted to a cameo off the bench after also being introduced as a substitute in United’s Premier League defeat by Arsenal last Sunday.
Neville said: ‘The problem in the second half is that it opens up… and it’s a little bit worrying that Fulham got stronger after they made their substitutions and United got worse when they made theirs.
‘Sesko at the moment – let’s just say it, he is nowhere near in terms of fitness or getting up to speed.
Gary Neville has claimed that a £74million Manchester United signing is ‘nowhere near up to speed’ following their 1-1 draw against Fulham on Sunday
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast after the match, the former United defender said there was a ‘clamour’ to field the player in question from the start
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‘Obviously there is a clamour to play him. Even I was saying last week let’s get him straight in.
‘[Amorim] is going to have to get Sesko in against Grimsby and give him 90 minutes so that he can be played [from the start] against Burnley next Saturday because you can see he needs football.
‘What you can’t do is let a player of that value, that potential, just keep being on the bench. The problem he’ll have is that he wants to keep Mason Mount in the team.
‘But when Sesko did come on and Mount went into midfield and they took Casemiro off, they did get opened up and it looked [more likely] that Fulham would score.’
Neville also questioned Amorim’s substitutions in the second half. ‘The strange one for me was the change of the back line with Leny Yoro and Luke Shaw going off with five minutes to go,’ he added.
‘You don’t want to be changing that back line if you can help it.’
The result leaves Amorim and United still searching for their first league win of the season after defeat by Arsenal and the stalemate at Craven Cottage.
The Red Devils will be hoping they can get their first victory of the new campaign on the board when they travel to Grimsby Town in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
They then return to action in the Premier League on Saturday as they welcome Burnley to Old Trafford.
