Benjamin Sesko's ex-coach makes bold comparison to Erling Haaland despite Man Utd struggles

Rene Aufhaser, a football coach who played a key role in the development of Erling Haaland and Benjamin Sesko, has boldly predicted that Manchester United's forward will match the prowess of Manchester City's goal machine.

Aufhaser, who helped shape Haaland and Sesko into two of Europe's most thrilling forwards at RB Salzburg, was asked to draw a comparison between the two. Ahead of this weekend's Manchester Derby, he confidently stated that Sesko, who made the switch to the Red Devils from RB Leipzig this summer, will be as good as Haaland.

Despite the 22-year-old only starting one game under Ruben Amorim - the disastrous League Cup second-round exit to Grimsby Town - Aufhaser remains confident that the United forward will realise his potential, having seen both Haaland and Sesko when they were still raw talents.

In an interview with Sky Sports, relayed by the Manchester Evening News before the derby, he said: "Erling Haaland, I will rate him 10 out of 10. I think Erling is [an] outstanding striker and Benji, I think at the moment maybe he's a nine, nine-and-a-half out of 10. And he has potential.

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"He will develop in the next one and two years, I'm sure. Erling reached his mark after his transfer from Dortmund to Man City and we will see. I am quite sure Benji will reach this mark after one or two years. But, of course, Erling is the top. He has 10 out of 10 from me."

This isn't the first occasion a direct parallel has been drawn between Sesko and Haaland. The promising United striker even revealed that numerous teammates have told him he surpasses the Norwegian, who has netted 88 times with 17 assists across 100 Premier League outings for City.

In an earlier interview, Sesko revealed: "Such comparisons motivate me and give me energy. They do not represent pressure. I will listen and learn, so I can be even better than he is.

"My team-mates at the club tell me that Haaland and I are very similar, especially in terms of speed. Most of them even tell me that I'm better than him!".

Sesko did backtrack on those remarks when his switch to United was confirmed. This was perhaps sensible as he has yet to make his mark in any of his three substitute appearances for United in the Premier League.

Throughout his stint with RB Salzburg, FC Liefering and RB Leipzig, Sesko has found the net 100 times and provided 26 assists across 228 career outings. He also possesses 16 goals in 43 caps for Slovenia, but couldn't find the target in his country's 2-2 stalemate with Sweden and 3-0 defeat to Switzerland in the recent international break.

Despite this, he still received backing from international colleague Andraz Sporar, who called for patience. He told reporters: "What does he bring to United? Everything. He has speed, power, intelligence, good football IQ.

"I believe he can be a complete striker in the next two or three years. But he's still young. He will help Manchester United a lot, they just need to be patient. I believe he'll score the goals and every year he will be better and better."

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