Michael Carrick reveals Man Utd star has ‘impressed’ him ahead of Arsenal clash

Michael Carrick said he has been impressed by Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko in training since taking over as interim head coach.

Sesko scored three goals in two games under caretaker boss Darren Fletcher, but was an unused substitute in Carrick’s first game against Manchester City last weekend.

In his place, Bryan Mbeumo led the line after his return from the AFCON, producing a clinical finish on the counterattack to score United’s opening goal.

Sesko has endured a hit-and-miss start to life at Old Trafford since arriving for £74million from RB Leipzig in the summer.

The 22-year-old has scored five goals in 19 appearances in all competitions, but Carrick insisted the striker has made a good first impression on him despite not featuring last weekend.

‘He’s in a good place, he’s trained really well,’ Carrick said in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to face league leaders Arsenal.

‘Obviously, we’re working with him to keep trying to improve him as much as possible, but I’ve been really impressed in the way he’s trained and his finishing and the way he’s gone about it.

‘I don’t see it as anything other than pushing on and using what he’s done over the last month as a stepping stone to be here and successful for a long time.’

The return of Amad Diallo and Mbeumo from AFCON has given the Red Devils a much-needed boost when it comes to their options in attacking areas.

And Carrick says the variety of options he has in central forward positions will only benefit his side in the coming weeks and months.

‘It’s just variety in terms of the strengths in some ways,’ he said when asked about the difference between his current crop of attackers.

‘Bryan [Mbeumo] had a bit of a free role [against Manchester City] in many ways in a partnership with Bruno [Fernandes] to drift and fill different spaces.

‘Ben [Sesko] is very good at playing on the last line, we’ve seen over recently weeks he’s in a good place.

‘Josh [Zirkzee] can do a bit of both, flicks and tricks and playing in the hole. It’s different styles, great to have that flexibility. Matheus [Cunha] came on through the middle and made a difference for us.’

United head into Sunday’s testing encounter just one point off Liverpool in fourth and unbeaten in their last five league games.

Carrick said his squad have no new fitness issues, but confirmed that Matthijs de Ligt had suffered a setback in his recovery from a back problem.

‘He had a bit of setback,’ he explained. ‘Well, not really a setback, before I arrived. [It was] only small but he was a little bit slower than we would have liked.

‘He is getting closer and hopefully in the next couple of weeks he will be back and around it.’

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