Came to Leipzig in the summer
A comparison between Manchester City’s star striker Erling Haaland (23) and RB Leipzig attacker Benjamin Sesko seems obvious at first glance. Both played for Red Bull Salzburg before moving to the Bundesliga. Both are tall, athletic – and successful. But when Sesko spoke to Transfermarkt as part of a media roundtable ahead of Leipzig’s Champions League home game against Man City next week, he was quick to play down these comparisons, which were once again a big topic. There was also the question of why Sesko rejected a transfer to Manchester United and chose RB instead.
Before that, however, it was all about Haaland: Sesko expressed his admiration for the Norwegian striker. “You compare me to someone who is one of the best players in the world,” said the 20-year-old Slovenian. “The only thing that makes us somewhat comparable is size. But we have a completely different style of play. I like him as a player, but I don’t like comparing myself to anyone. I just want to be myself.”
The comparisons are actually somewhat unfair. Anyone who observes the two players knows that they are fundamentally very different. While Haaland is more direct and powerful, Sesko is more dynamic and technical. In addition, Haaland’s rise at Salzburg was far more meteoric. After his debut in 2018/19, the ex-Dortmunder made his breakthrough the following season and scored 29 goals in 27 games for Salzburg across all competitions.
Haaland quickly outgrew Austria, while Sesko was not that productive at the start of his career: he scored five goals and three assists in his first year in the Austrian Bundesliga. But that didn’t stop people and international media from making the comparison – especially after Sesko scored several real highlight goals for both Salzburg and Slovenia. The “Red Bulls” had once again found a budding top striker, it was said. The headlines had a clear thrust.
“Such comparisons motivate me and give me energy,” Sesko said in the past about the comparison with Haaland. “They don’t put pressure on you. I will listen and learn so I can be even better than him. My teammates at the club tell me that Haaland and I are very similar, especially when it comes to speed. Most people even tell me that I’m better than him!”
With Szoboszlai: These players moved from Red Bull Salzburg to RB Leipzig
Looking at those same sentences and the Haaland comparisons, Sesko downplayed what had been said in the past: “If you look at the results and the statistics, then you have to say that he is one of the best. Maybe I have some qualities that I’m better at. But we mostly talk about that among teammates in training, and in general we have a very different style of play.”
Benjamin Sesko turned down Man Utd and moved to RB Leipzig
But possibly also because of the Haaland comparisons, there was a lot of interest in Sesko from the Premier League, especially from Manchester United. “The thing is, I wasn’t really involved in these kinds of conversations,” Sesko said when asked about the Red Devils’ interest. “But I think it was better to come here,” he added.
Instead, Sesko decided to stay in Red Bull’s football cosmos and became the 20th player to move from Salzburg to Leipzig. The Saxons had already signed the striker last summer and kept him in Salzburg for another season, where he scored 16 goals and four assists in 30 Bundesliga games. “It was very important for me to go to a place that plays a similar style of football,” replied Sesko when asked why he chose Leipzig and not other clubs. “I already knew what I had to do and didn’t have to go through a whole learning process again.”
In Germany, Sesko got off to a good start, scoring three goals in six games across all competitions for Leipzig. So far he has been extremely dangerous under Marco Rose, especially from the bench. His goals will probably continue to fuel the rumor mill. The Premier League will be very attractive in the future, said Sesko, like many of his colleagues in professional football who have similar requirements. But he also referred to his contract in Leipzig, which runs until 2028: “It would be nice to play there. But for now let’s focus on the now and then we’ll see.”
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