Ruben Amorim is convinced "control freak" Benjamin Sesko will succeed at Manchester United after Gary Neville claimed the striker was "well off it" compared to their other attacking arrivals.
A lack of goals proved costly during a wretched 2024-25 campaign, leading the Red Devils to splash out up to £207.2million (€235.73m) to bring in three new forward players during their summer rebuild.
Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo were followed by United wrapping up a deal that could reach £73.7m (€83.85m) for RB Leipzig sharpshooter Sesko, who has been slower to settle than the Premier League-proven pair.
The 22-year-old has scored twice in his first 11 appearances and former captain Neville said after last weekend's 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest that he looks "awkward" and "well off it" compared to the other two signings.
"I’m relaxed," Amorim said of Sesko’s start to life at United. "He’s not relaxed.
"What I mean is that I understand how things are in football and he’s going to struggle. That is normal.
"He has no experience here and then the first impact when everyone says that 'you are so good, you are the next big thing’, and you hear about that with Sesko. Then you come to one club that is the hardest club.
"If you don’t perform every week, you are going to hear a lot of things from club legends, from pundits, from the media, and sometimes they are right.
"To have the ability to understand that is normal and still maintain your level of confidence is really hard for a young kid, especially for a young kid that is a control freak, wants to control everything, and he’s not going to control everything.
"When I started training with Ben, he has more potential than I was thinking.
"He’s going to struggle and we need to understand how he likes to play also to put in our ideas, so I’m quite relaxed with that.
"He is going to be our striker for the long term, but he’s going to have these struggles and these bumps during the ride, and that is a normal thing in football."
"Of course it's hard to hear, but my advice to Ben is you are going to get used (to it) and then it’s going to be natural"
Amorim’s "control freak" comment seems to refer to the player’s thoroughness, with the Slovenia international typically arriving at 8am to use the hyperbaric chamber before training, and frequently among the last players to depart around 4pm.
Amorim hopes that determination to succeed means he will see comments such as Neville’s for what they are.
"Of course nobody likes to hear, but he struggled a little bit and that is a fact, so let’s embrace that," he said ahead of Saturday’s trip to Tottenham.
"I try to explain to the players that it’s not personal. It’s an opinion that is going to change in three weeks.
"So, of course it’s hard to hear, but my advice to Ben is you are going to get used (to it) and then it’s going to be natural.
"That is part of the process, and we are going to help him and we are going to protect Ben because he works really hard and he wants to succeed, so he’s going to succeed."
Meanwhile, Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank feels United have a key advantage in the battle for Champions League qualification, in the "most competitive" Premier League.
Spurs host Man United in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off in a rematch of May’s Europa League final in Bilbao.
A first-half goal by Brennan Johnson guided Tottenham to a first trophy in 17 years under Frank’s predecessor Ange Postecoglou and secured a place in this season’s Champions League despite a worst-ever Premier League finish.
Both Spurs and Man United have improved in the division this time around and are sixth and eighth respectively in the table on 17 points after 10 matches.
Yet, with Sunderland and Bournemouth currently in the top five, former Brentford boss Frank believes the Premier League is the most competitive he can remember and acknowledged Amorim’s team not being in Europe will benefit their top-four challenge.
"No doubt it’s an advantage, no doubt," Frank insisted. "I said from the beginning we want to be able to compete in both because of where we want to be.
"We need to be able to perform in Champions League and still to perform in the league.
"There’s no two ways about it, that’s for the fans, the status, the money, everything, the ambitions, what we want to achieve, but to have a week to prepare for a game, to have the freshness, that means something.
"I think in, general, the Premier League this season is the most competitive Premier League I’ve seen. This is my fifth year here.
"There’s so little between the teams. If I see the other games, I heard (Arne) Slot talk about the Aston Villa Villa game, small margins in that game as well, the momentum change in games – it’s very, very competitive.
"I think in the last couple of years the traditional big six, Newcastle is in there for a top seven, Villa is up there so that’s suddenly eight.
"Then there’s teams have that done fantastic. Brighton, Bournemouth also, so it’s just very competitive.
"Then it is just a different beast when you want to be up there, playing in Europe and also competing in the league."
Squad depth is key to being able to compete on multiple fronts, which is why Arsenal went on a £250million (€284.43) summer spending spree despite losing only four league games last season.
Tottenham brought in four key figures during the first transfer window under Frank in the form of Mohammed Kudus, Joao Palhinha, Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani, but they continue to be affected by injuries.
A lengthy list of absentees has grown with Dominic Solanke not able to play for Spurs since August 23 due to a troublesome ankle issue and even though he had minor surgery at the start of October, Frank cast doubt on the chances of him playing again in 2025.
Asked if he will play before 2026, Frank said: "I do hope so. I would say let’s see what happens after the international break. We are still going steps forward. It’s on track so far."
