Man Utd will be busy in the summer transfer window but one change in the strongest starting XI is already looking likely for next season.
When Bruno Fernandes crossed for Bryan Mbeumo to score against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, all the attention and the accolades went to the provider, with the Manchester United captain grabbing his 20th assist of the Premier League season.
The 31-year-old will go in search of a record-breaking 21st against Brighton on Sunday, but that isn’t the only award up for grabs on the south coast. The battle to end the campaign as United’s top scorer is also very much alive.
That has been something of a poisoned chalice in recent years. Fernandes finished top of the charts (in all competitions) with 19 last year and 28 in 2020/21, but every other recent winner has found the narrative turn against them reasonably quickly.
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Rasmus Hojlund didn’t build on the 16 he scored in his first season and just two years later he has departed Old Trafford. Marcus Rashford scored 30 in 2022/23 but was persona non grata within 18 months
Cristiano Ronaldo’s return ended with 24 goals in 2021/22 but an exit via the back door six months later. Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial were the top scorers between 2017/18 and 2019/20, and none of them are fondly remembered now.
But there should still be kudos in the glory, and it’s fitting that three new signings are the ones to hit double figures this season. Mbeumo now has 11 for the campaign, Matheus Cunha is on 10, while Benjamin Sesko is out in front on 12. All three have had very good first seasons at Old Trafford and will feel there is more to come.
Sesko might well hold on to the honour, but he will miss the trip to the Amex Stadium as he looks to get over a shin injury that has been bothering him for a couple of months. No matter what Mbeumo or Cunha do, he will end up as the most prolific forward this season, given his goals in the Premier League have come at one every 149 minutes.
That puts him fourth among players to have scored at least 10 goals this season, behind Igor Thiago (a goal every 145 minutes), Junior Kroupi (124) and Erling Haaland (110).
The 22-year-old Slovenian has made a significant contribution since January, with the switch in system after Ruben Amorim’s departure handing the striker more chances in front of goal, but he has still had a campaign where he has been eased in.
Despite signing for £73million last summer, Sesko will end up starting just 17 out of a possible 38 Premier League games and he has never truly built up momentum. He started four league games in a row in September and October, five in a row at the turn of the year and four in succession in April and May.
There is a view that his game has come on a lot this year and he has certainly benefited from a focus on individual training since Carrick took over. With Slovenia not at the World Cup, he will also get a full pre-season with United, which should also put him in good shape ahead of next season.
Carrick has mixed up his attack since January, often starting Bryan Mbeumo in a more fluid front three, but Sesko’s returns in front of goal suggest he will be hard to ignore next year. If he does kick on from here, then he will go from a rotation option to one of the first names on the teamsheet for 2026/27.
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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.
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