Chelsea confirmed that Dário Essugo will be sidelined for an extended period after the 20-year-old required surgery following a thigh injury sustained during the September international break. The club said the midfielder underwent successful surgery in the days after the problem occurred while representing Portugal’s U-21 squad.

Essugo has begun his recovery work at Cobham but faces a lengthy absence. Reports in The Athletic place the layoff at a minimum of 12 weeks, with the wider estimate around three months. The same reporting suggests the summer signing will likely not be available for selection until 2026, a development that leaves Enzo Maresca with another injury issue to manage in the opening months of the 2025–26 season.

Chelsea signed Essugo from Sporting CP in June for £18.5 million ($23.9 million). The midfielder was always intended to add depth to Maresca’s options in central areas and was not expected to displace Moisés Caicedo or Enzo Fernández from the starting XI. Nevertheless, his absence removes a rotational option for the manager at a point when squad resources are valuable.

Following his move to west London, Essugo featured three times in Chelsea’s FIFA Club World Cup campaign, picking up his first trophy in a blue shirt within weeks of his transfer. He then made two preseason appearances, logging a total of 63 minutes. Maresca had not yet given Essugo a Premier League debut, keeping the Portugal international on the bench for Chelsea’s opening three matches of the season.

Given the projected recovery timeline, Essugo will most likely have to wait until next year to make his first appearance in the English top flight. The club will continue to monitor his rehabilitation at Cobham as they prepare for the early months of the 2025–26 campaign.

Manchester United’s summer signing Benjamin Šeško has been the subject of early scrutiny after his £74 million ($100.2 million) move from RB Leipzig. The 22-year-old has arrived in England at a time when several other high-profile forwards have hit the ground running, with Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitiké, Arsenal’s Viktor Gyökeres and Chelsea’s João Pedro all making goalscoring starts elsewhere in the Premier League.

That context has intensified expectation around Šeško, but former United defender Rio Ferdinand has urged restraint. “He needs to get up to speed with the Premier League and that’s going to take at least a month before he can even start thinking he’s in a good enough position to put his best foot forward,” Ferdinand told the Daily Mail. “Listen, he’s a young kid. He’s got huge potential, that’s not in doubt. But potential and proving it are two different things. It wouldn’t be right to say whether he can do it or not, time will be the biggest teller of all.”

Ferdinand’s comments underline a common view among former players and pundits that adaptation to the Premier League can take time, especially for a young striker joining a club under significant pressure to deliver immediate returns.

That pressure has been compounded by criticism from another ex-United forward. Louis Saha has predicted Šeško will struggle in his debut season with the Red Devils, pointing to Manchester United’s lack of midfield signings over the summer as a factor that could hinder his integration and goalscoring chances.

Šeško’s confidence may also have been affected by his recent international outings. During the September break the striker failed to score as Slovenia drew with Sweden and suffered defeat to Switzerland in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying. For now, both club and player will be hoping that a single goal at Old Trafford or in the league can alter the narrative and accelerate his settling-in period.

René Aufhauser, who worked in the youth set-up at RB Salzburg, has suggested Benjamin Šeško can develop into a truly elite striker. Aufhauser observed the forward after Šeško returned from a formative loan at FC Liefering to join Salzburg’s senior side in 2021. At that time Aufhauser had been shifted to the club’s youth team but remained close enough to witness Šeško’s progress, a player Manchester United splashed £73.7 million ($100 million) on this summer .

Aufhauser did not hold back in his assessment. “Erling Haaland, I will rate him 10 out of 10,” Aufhauser gushed, as quoted by Sky Sports . “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 also potential. He will develop in the next one and two years, I’m sure.

“Erling reached his mark after his transfer from [Borussia] 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.”

The comparison is striking but the numbers underline the gap that currently exists. Šeško scored 29 goals in 79 appearances for Salzburg before moving on, and later produced 39 goals in 87 games for RB Leipzig. The coach’s projection is forward-looking: he rates Haaland as the benchmark and places Šeško close behind with room to grow.

Aufhauser’s view frames Šeško as a player with clear potential rather than an established equal to Haaland. The coach expects noticeable development over the next one to two years, with the possibility that Šeško could approach the standards set by Haaland after further progression.