Manchester United need more than Benjamin Sesko transfer to solve attacking problem

Red Bull Salzburg have a pretty good recent track record in producing strikers but even if Benjamin Sesko is a fifth as good as Erling Haaland, Manchester United need more than just an unproven kid to solve their attacking problem.

It's been a promising summer for Erik ten Hag but the true scale of the task at hand at United was made even starker on Sunday when he lost his first competitive game in charge to Brighton. United had looked like a different side in pre-season but reverted back to their dawdling, unimaginative, porous selves when it mattered.

The result and the performance make it plain just how much there is still left to do this summer. The Frenkie de Jong 'saga' is now set to rumble on into a 13th week and must be resolved for better or worse. Then there's the attacking situation.

Ten Hag has wanted to add a versatile forward to his squad all summer, owing to a lack of options following the departures of Edinson Cavani, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata, and that was before Cristiano Ronaldo made it clear he wants to leave. Whether Ronaldo stays or goes, it's clear that reinforcements are needed, because as we've already seen, just one injury can leave the manager with next to no choice in his team selections.

In a cruel twist of fate, Anthony Martial missed out on Sunday's game due to injury just as he looked set to really reignite his United career after a galvanising pre-season. His absence left Ten Hag with little room to manoeuvre and, with Ronaldo not fit enough, Christian Eriksen was selected to lead the line and it failed drastically. United missed a focal point and only improved upon Ronaldo's introduction and the shift of Eriksen into midfield but it wasn't enough. If United were to get any