German expert issues Benjamin Sesko and Nick Woltemade warning following big-money moves
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Charlie Grace
Fri 5 September 2025 20:12, UK
Benjamin Sesko and Nick Woltemade were the latest Bundesliga stars to make a big money switch to the Premier League this season.
Sesko switched Leipzig for Manchester in a £74 million deal, while Woltemade went from Stuttgart to Newcastle for a ecord fee of £64m.
Both players come with a lot of pedigree revolving around their uncanny physical and technical abilities, but also face a lot of pressure to perform despite being only 22 and 23 respectively.
Sesko has faced early pressure over being United’s 10th penalty taker in their Carabao Cup loss to Grimsby, while Woltemade has to fill the boots of the outgoing Alexander Isak, who joined Liverpool for a record fee on deadline day.
[Credit: HMB Media/Heiko Becker]
Sesko scored 13 goals in the Bundesliga last season, in an underperforming RB Leipzig team, with Woltemade hitting 12 goals in a Stuttgart side who struggled with injuries.
German football expert Raphael Honigstein spoke to talkSPORT to discuss the two players needing to have patience from their fanbases:”They will have to, the same is Sesko who is 22 as well, and if he was the fully rounded, superb, Harry Kane or [Robert] Lewandowski type of striker, he would have gone to Barcelona or Real Madrid.
“Bayern would have pushed really hard but that didn’t happen, and you’re buying the potential, you’re buying the player that he might be in two or three years time,” Honigstein said.
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“We saw with Rasmus Hojlund how players can be eaten up by the expectation to lead the line for such a historic club which they’re not ready for yet.
“So either you have to say ‘okay these guys are going to take some time to bed in’ or you say ‘we need the goals straight away’ and you have to spend money on different players.
“You look at these guys [Sesko and Woltemade] and they haven’t done it, so why would they do it all of a sudden in a league that is more difficult or with teams who are struggling to score the same amount of games that perhaps they would be scoring elsewhere?”
(Credit Imago)
Football Insider verdict
Woltemade joins Newcastle with the added comfort blanket of Yoane Wissa joining alongside him to fill in the hole that has been left by Isak, giving the German time to settle in to the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Sesko is entering a United team in turmoil and staring down the barrel of another poor season after their worst season in the Premier League era.
Benjamin SeskoStatsNick Woltemade13Goals125Assists210xG10.2Sesko and Woltemade’s 2024-25 stats (FBref)
Sesko will have to break a trend of poor number nine purchases and look to become United’s talisman for years to come.
Expectations are high for Sesko understandably, and if there is anyone who can surmount the pressure of filling Robin van Persie’s boots, it’s the 22-year-old.