Upon his £30m transfer back in the summer of 2004, no Manchester United supporter could have imagined the huge impact Wayne Rooney would have on the club.
The Englishman spent 13 years at Old Trafford, subsequently appearing in 559 outings in the process – currently sitting on the list for the club’s all-time appearance makers.
Such a time frame allowed the forward to reach phenomenal levels with the Red Devils, racking up a total of 253 goals at an average of one strike every 2.2 matches.
Rooney’s subsequent tally has made him their record goalscorer, with such a record still standing to this day and putting him ahead of the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton.
His phenomenal tallies catapulted Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to five Premier League titles during his stint in the North West, helping make the club one of the most successful in English history.
Fast-forward to the present day, current boss Ruben Amorim has found his own version of the fan-favourite, but it’s not in the form of one player who many would expect.
Benjamin Sesko’s start to life at United
After scoring just 44 times in England’s top-flight last season, it was crucial United invested in landing a new talisman – with Benjamin Sesko the man chosen by the hierarchy to lead the line.
The Slovenian cost a reported £74m including add-ons from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, but it’s safe to say his start in England has been a slow burner and taken time to explode into life.
He failed to score in any of his first six outings for the Red Devils, but the 22-year-old has managed to produce the goods in each of the last couple of outings.
Sesko has scored in each of his last two Premier League outings for Amorim’s side, with his latest strike helping them claim a needed victory against newly-promoted Sunderland at the Theatre of Dreams.
It may be early days into his career in England, but he’s already shown glimpses of quality that could make him a fan-favourite for many years to come – potentially even catapulting them to new levels of success.
However, he’s not the player who could emulate Rooney at Old Trafford, with one other first-team member closer to being similar to the Englishman in the future.
Man United’s new Rooney
In their attempts to land top-level talents, United have spent over £800m on new signings in the last four years to try and catapult themselves back up the Premier League table.
Most of such funds have been wasted on players that, unfortunately, aren’t at the level required for success, as seen by the club’s 15th-placed standing last campaign.
Amorim was unable to extract the most out of the squad, which undoubtedly led to Sesko’s addition during the summer to prevent such a scenario from happening once again in the future.
However, he has already featured alongside Bruno Fernandes, with the Portuguese international a player who massively starred despite the struggles on the pitch in 2024/25.
The 31-year-old scored 19 times and registered 18 assists across all competitions, with such a tally being by far and away the highest of any player in the first-team squad.
Such numbers make him similar to Rooney in terms of being the Red Devils’ main talisman, but it’s another aspect of his game which has seen him emulate the Englishman.
After the hierarchy’s £200m spending spree in the summer, it saw three attacking-minded players enter the club, which has seen Bruno have to shift roles as a result.
Fernandes, who’s been labelled “world-class” by United writer Liam Canning, has since been forced to operate in a deeper midfield role, something which Rooney did during the latter stages of his career at Old Trafford.
Whilst such a decision saw the Englishman net fewer goals in his final years, his passing ability made him a phenomenal option in that area – with Bruno emulating such levels, as seen by his tally of 82% of passes completed in 2025/26.
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Bruno Fernandes – PL stats (2025/26) |
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|---|---|
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Statistics (per 90) |
Tally |
|
Games played |
7 |
|
Goals & assists |
2 |
|
Pass accuracy |
82% |
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Shots taken |
2.3 |
|
Chances created |
2.7 |
|
Dribble success |
57% |
|
Tackles won |
2.1 |
|
Recoveries made |
6.2 |
|
Stats via FotMob |
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The Portuguese international may have to suffer in terms of his goalscoring tallies, but his ability to dictate the play could be a huge asset for Amorim’s side in the years ahead.
His passing ability could be crucial for Sesko if the Slovenian is to be a success at Old Trafford, with huge pressure being placed on the youngster to provide the goods in the Premier League.
However, neither player will likely reach the cult hero status of Rooney at the Theatre of Dreams, with the manager undoubtedly wishing he could call upon such a player in the present day.
