Brian Brobbey will face Manchester United on Saturday, against the club he once called his dream club. United were interested in him in Erik ten Hag’s first summer in charge, when he returned to Ajax from RB Leipzig, and again in 2024 before moving for Joshua Zirkzee. The wider point now is that United’s own No. 9 picture looks different, with Benjamin Šeško beginning to make the case that the club may have landed in the right place after all.
Why Brobbey still matters to the United striker debate
Brobbey’s path is still worth tracking because the numbers are decent without being spectacular. He scored six goals in 28 Premier League games for Sunderland, and his best season at Ajax produced 22 goals in 43 games. That is a proper striker return, just not the sort that screams missed superstar.
His own comments back up how open the door once was. Brobbey said, "Dream club? Manchester United. Erik sent me a message, yes, to congratulate me, and to tell me that he would like to have me at Manchester United. But I'm not finished at Ajax yet, I want to show something here first". He also added, "I absolutely wanted to go to Ajax. Erik also wanted to work with me, texted once if I was open to it, but I thanked him nicely."
That is why the record around him needs careful wording. United were interested, but the source material does not support the idea that a deal was particularly close on either occasion. The more solid story is that they looked, passed, and then kept cycling through centre-forward options.
How United’s other No. 9s compare now
The comparison with Rasmus Højlund, Joshua Zirkzee and Šeško is the useful part. United spent £72million on Højlund, £36.5million on Zirkzee and £73million on Šeško, and the output so far tells its own story. Højlund has 10 Serie A goals in 29 appearances, plus three Champions League goals in seven appearances. Zirkzee has two Premier League goals in 21 appearances. Šeško has 11 Premier League goals in 30 appearances.
That makes Šeško the clearest reason the Brobbey discussion looks different now. Brobbey’s six league goals for Sunderland are respectable, but they do not compare with Šeško’s current Premier League return. If United are judging their forward line on what they have in front of them rather than what they passed on, the evidence points away from regret and towards a striker who is starting to look like a better answer.
Brobbey has not failed as a player. He has settled into a proper top-flight season, and his 28 appearances for Sunderland show he is doing more than turning up for cameo minutes. But United’s striker debate was always going to be about whether the club got the right central striker after missing out on him twice. Right now, Šeško gives that answer more weight than Brobbey does.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
