The Premier League’s most prolific marksman, Alan Shearer, is a big fan of Slovenia international Benjamin Šeško and wants to see him in the Premier League someday
Šeško currently plies his trade with German Bundesliga club Red Bull Leipzig, where he transferred to from Red Bull Salzburg where he was the direct replacement for Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland.
Both strikers have had the same career trajectory: from their home countries to Austria and then to Germany. And like the Manchester City star, he has also caught the eye of English clubs and is believed to be destined for the Premier League soon.
Premier League tickets for the 2024/25 season are already on sale and Sesko could yet become the latest forward to star in the English top flight.
Shearer is excited about the prospect and has expressed eagerness to see the Slovenian don a Premier League jersey in the future.
What has been said
Šeško was called up as an 18-year-old for Slovenia after choosing to represent his father’s home country (his mother hails from Bosnia and Herzegovina).
In October 2021, he scored his debut goal for the team in a 2022 World Cup qualifier to become their youngest-ever goalscorer. Since then, he has been an undisputed starter for them and has gone on to score important goals for them in Euro qualification and the friendly UEFA Nations League.
Šeško scored five goals for Slovenia as they qualified for the 2024 tournament in Germany and was expected to play a pivotal role for them in their first appearance in the tournament since 2000.
Slovenia were grouped with England, Denmark and Serbia in Group C and escaped the group stages as one of the four best third-placed teams. They met Portugal in the round of 16 and were eliminated via penalties. Portugal had goalkeeper Diogo Costa to thank, as the FC Porto goalkeeper saved all three Slovenian penalties.
The RB Leipzig striker scored no goals in Slovenia’s four matches, but his performance was of the best quality which excited Shearer.
Shearer, speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, highlighted Sesko’s ability and tipped him for a future move to the Premier League.
“He was feeding off scraps a lot of the time but I think he will be a good striker, I do not doubt that,” Shearer said. “A lot of the big boys were after Sesko weren’t they?
“He’s signed a new deal with Leipzig, but I don’t think it will be long before we see him in the Premier League.”
Šeško, who has 11 goals in 33 appearances for his nation, will now spend some time off before returning to Leipzig for pre-season with his team.
Interest from the Premier League
Šeško has been linked to the Premier League since his days at Salzburg. Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City all paid attention to his situation, with United and Chelsea even going ahead to make enquiries in the summer of 2022.
The then-teenage striker would choose Germany in 2022 instead, with the move becoming official in 2023. He went on to score 18 goals for Leipzig in that season where he played alongside another promising striker, Loïs Openda, with 14 of those goals coming in the league.
Arsenal intended to sign him in the winter transfer window of the 2023/24 season, with reported plans to do away with Eddie Nketiah to create space for the Slovenian. However, he stayed put in Germany but the Gunners never lost touch.
He would break their hearts in June 2024 by signing an extension with the German club to remain with them until 2029, when he would be 26 years old. It is believed that he will still be a Premier League player, a move that Shearer cannot wait to see happen shortly.
He was valued at €65 million in the summer before choosing to remain with Leipzig. When the time for his move comes, his price is expected to shoot up.
Šeško did not escape some criticism, though. He missed two chances that could have seen Slovenia play France in the quarter-final.
“He made the one mistake there, when you’re one on one with the goalkeeper what you’ve got to do is try and make the goalkeeper commit first and he most certainly didn’t do that on that particular occasion,” Gary Lineker said in the post-game analysis, then added, “But he’s a young striker and I think he showed a lot of potentials.”
Benjamin Šeško career
Benjamin Šeško was born to a Slovenian father and a Bosnian mother in Radeče, Slovenia.
In 2010, he signed for his hometown club Radeče, where he played until he was 10 years old. He moved to another club in Slovenia, Rudar Trbovlje, a club that competes in the third division of Slovenian football. He played for them for one year and moved back to his hometown club, where he would spend the next two years developing.
He spent his U-17 years at Krško, where he quickly caught the eye of scouts from all across Europe with incredible goal-scoring performances. In the 2017/18 season, Šeško scored 59 goals in 23 games for Krško’s U-15, which quickly earned him a move to NK Domžale, a club that competes in the top flight of Slovenia football. He was 15 at the time.
In 2019, at 16 years old, he moved to Austria to sign with RB Salzburg, who immediately sent him on loan to FC Liefering, their sister club in Austria’s second tier. One season was enough to convince the RB Salzburg coaches to integrate him into the club in the 2020/21 season but he spent another year in Liefering because of his age.
He would eventually play three seasons for Salzburg, amassing 21 league goals in 55 league appearances for the club before moving to Leipzig in 2023.
The striker, now 21, is seen as one of the best young talents in the world and is tipped to be part of the new era of brilliant young strikers.
He has been compared to Erling Haaland and is also on the same path as the Man City striker. A Premier League move after his time in Germany looks most likely to happen for the young striker.