Ferdinand praises Man Utd star: “They haven’t had a player like him in ages”

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand showered Benjamin Sesko with praise, while comparing him to a former teammate.

The Red Devils splashed circa £72 million to sign the Slovenian bomber from RB Leipzig last summer. Although he wasn’t the club’s first choice, the 23-year-old was deemed a solid buy considering his Bundesliga exploits and his young age.

However, Sesko has only scored a couple of goals since his arrival, which earned him some criticism, most famously from Gary Neville.

Rio Ferdinand is an admirer of Benjamin Sesko

On Tuesday, the big centre-forward led the line for Man Utd once more against Wolves. However, he once again failed to find the back of the net, despite coming close on a few occasions.

Curiously, Ruben Amorim kept him on the pitch for the duration of the match, while Joshua Zirkzee, who scored the opener, was unceremoniously hooked at half-time.

In the end, despite being the heavy favourites to win according to the top bookmakers in the UK, Man Utd dropped points as they settled for a draw with Wolves, who had been on an 11-match losing streak dating back to early October.

Although he couldn’t find the coveted winner, Ferdinand doesn’t think Sesko should be blamed for the result.

On the contrary, the former MUFC captain argues that the Slovenian must not be solely judged by scoring charts.

“Sesko [offers more] than [just] goals,” said the retired defender on his podcast, Rio Ferdinand Presents, as transcribed by Metro.

“Yes, the strikers will be judged on their goals, but internally sometimes there are things that they bring to the table that you go, ‘You know what, that is huge’.”

Ferdinand explains why Sesko reminds him of Louis Saha

Ferdinand then went on to compare Sesko to his former teammate, Louis Saha, who wasn’t the most prolific striker, but was often willing to do the dirty work.

The legendary defender emphasised the Frenchman’s ability to hold up the ball, an attribute that he also sees in Sesko.

“You know who was like that? Louis Saha. He was never going to win the Golden Boot at Manchester United. But in terms of his value to the team, he was a joke some of the stuff that he would do to enable others to play better.

“He would get us up the pitch at times, he would hold the ball for three or four seconds at times to give us a breather.

“Forget goals with him. His all-round game… I was sitting there sometimes going, ‘Oh my God, I’m so happy he’s on our team’.”

Therefore, Ferdinand believes that Man Utd have been yearning for a striker with Sesko’s skillset for a long time.

“I think with Sesko, listen, we still want to see the goals. But I’ve seen a few parts of his game that I go, ‘Oh the other players are liking that’.”

“I can see it. Manchester United haven’t had a striker who can just hold it up or flick it on for ages. Like just a simple little thing but effective.”