Theo Walcott urges patience with Benjamin Sesko, after the young striker endured criticism after a bad performance against Spurs.

Benjamin Sesko was one of the sought-after striker targets during the summer, as several high-profile teams chased his signature. First, it was Arsenal, who considered him as a viable target alongside Viktor Gyokeres, but ended up signing the Swede despite seeing the Slovenian as a top addition to their project.

Newcastle United and Manchester United fought a closely contested battle for his signature, with the Red Devils winning the race for Sesko. After a modest start to life at Old Trafford, the Slovenian did find form in between, but his recent games have left a lot to be desired.

Given the nature of players underperforming at Manchester United, they often get plenty of criticism from the media. The same would apply to Sesko, who was widely criticised following a below-par performance against Tottenham at the weekend.

Sesko missed a good chance to give Manchester United the lead, which could have taken the game away from Spurs. However, the north Londoners soon came back into the game following that missed chance and then subsequently took the lead. The Red Devils fought their way back with a late equaliser through Mathijs de Ligt, which may have spared Sesko’s blushes to an extent.

Meanwhile, former Arsenal star Theo Walcott has come in Sesko’s defence, as he urged patience with the Slovenian star. His comments on the BBC indicated that the underperforming Manchester United signing needs time at the club to get into his stride, as he cited examples of Arsenal great Thierry Henry as well as Gunners teammate Olivier Giroud.

Walcott said, “As a forward player, I’d always be my biggest critic. How many crosses did I get in? How many shots did I have? Did I beat my man?”

“Benjamin Sesko isn’t contributing much at the moment, and Manchester United don’t seem to be playing to his strengths. But there is still time.”

“I remember when Thierry Henry came to the Premier League – he was a shadow of the player we remember now.”

“I also played with Olivier Giroud – he took about 10 games to really get going, and not many people remember that. We could all see what type of player he [Giroud] was going to be in training.”

There’s an important message in Walcott’s comments, as many new strikers tend to struggle to get going in the Premier League. There are some exceptions to the rule, such as Erling Haaland, but the majority of the centre-forwards need time to evolve with their respective team.

This season, there are plenty of examples in that regard, such as Arsenal’s Gyokeres, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak at Liverpool and now Sesko at Manchester United. The Slovenian also suffered a knee injury while missing that aforementioned chance for the Red Devils, with Ruben Amorim already hinting at the possibility of signing a new striker in January.

Sesko does need time, and that should be the case once he returns from his injury. The player clearly has the talent to succeed at the top level, as the fans, as well as Manchester United, should be patient with his development.