Manchester United expect Sesko out until at least January with shin injury

Manchester United expect Benjamin Sesko to be out until at least January with a shin injury, according to The Athletic. The Daily Telegraph reports that his absence leaves the club without a recognised senior centre-forward.

The Athletic reports that Sesko is healing through rest, but that the recovery is expected to run into the New Year, and that he will then need further time to regain match sharpness before he can be considered again.

The club's medical team has been investigating the best course of treatment with specialists, The Athletic adds. In a statement reported by the same outlet, United said: "Benjamin will undergo tests this week before defining his individual recovery plan."

A problem that goes back to May

The 23-year-old has not played since United's 3-2 Carabao Cup defeat by Brighton and Hove Albion on 16 September, according to The Daily Telegraph. BBC Sport reports he was taken off after 66 minutes of that match.

He then missed the 1-1 draw with Fulham before the October international break and withdrew from duty with Slovenia, ESPN reported.

The Telegraph describes the current issue as a recurrence of a shin problem that previously kept Sesko out for almost four months, and says he has now been sidelined for six weeks. The paper traces the original injury to the match against Liverpool on 3 May, when Sesko was shoved into the perimeter boards by Ibrahima Konaté.

The Athletic's account is that Sesko took a kick to his shin last season but continued playing for the final two months of the campaign, and that the current problem relates to that injury.

BBC Sport reports that it is an impact injury rather than shin splints. Michael Carrick has described it as related to the earlier problem without being identical to it. "It's not the exact issue, it's a similar area, but it's not the exact same thing again," he said, as quoted by ESPN.

On 9 October, ESPN reported that Carrick said there was no timeline for Sesko's return. "We're kind of still working through it a little bit to see how long the issue will be," he said. "We're hoping that it'll be soon, obviously, but at this moment it's still not quite clear."

That hope has since faded. What was an open-ended absence now has a floor, and the floor is January.

No senior No 9 to turn to

The timing is awkward. The Telegraph calculates that Sesko will miss at least 13 more matches, beginning with Saturday's trip to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. BBC Sport reports that the run includes Premier League fixtures against Liverpool and Arsenal and at least three Champions League matches.