Benjamin Šeško

Benjamin Šeško (, born 31 May 2003) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the Slovenia national team.

Šeško joined Red Bull Salzburg aged 16 in 2019 from Domžale. He was loaned to the Salzburg's reserve team FC Liefering for two seasons, where he scored 22 goals in 44 games in the second tier of Austrian football. He made his first-team debut for Red Bull Salzburg in January 2021 and went on to win three Austrian Bundesliga titles and one Austrian Cup.

Šeško represented Slovenia at youth international level, before becoming the youngest player to appear for the senior national team in 2021, aged 18, and scored his first goal for the national team in October 2021, making him Slovenia's youngest ever goalscorer.

Club career

Early career

Šeško began his career at his hometown club Radeče when he was in the first grade. He then spent one year with Rudar Trbovlje in the under-11 selection, before returning to Radeče. In 2016 he transferred to Krško, where he played for the under-15s and under-17s. In the 2017–18 season, he scored 59 goals in 23 matches for the under-15s. In 2018, Šeško joined Domžale, where he stayed for one season.

Red Bull Salzburg

At the age of 16, on 3 June 2019, Šeško signed a three-year professional contract with Red Bull Salzburg. He debuted with Red Bull Salzburg in a 3–0 Austrian Football Bundesliga win over TSV Hartberg on 30 January 2021.

Loan to FC Liefering

Immediately after signing with Red Bull Salzburg, he was moved to their farm club FC Liefering, competing in the Austrian Second League. In the 2020–21 season, he scored 21 goals in 29 appearances and became the league's second-best goalscorer. He scored most of his goals in the final part of the season, scoring 13 goals in the last 7 rounds.

RB Leipzig

On 9 August 2022, RB Leipzig announced that Šeško would join them on 1 July 2023, on a five-year contract until 2028, for a reported transfer fee of around €24 million.

On 3 September 2023, Šeško scored his first goals for RB Leipzig by netting a brace in a 3–0 away win over Union Berlin, which ended their 24-match streak without loss at home. On 19 September, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal (excluding qualifying rounds) as RB Leipzig defeated Young Boys 3–1 away from home in the matchday 1 of the 2023–24 edition. Šeško finished his first season with 18 goals across all competitions, and also became the youngest ever player to score in seven consecutive Bundesliga games at 20 years and 353 days.

In June 2024, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and AC Milan all pursued Šeško, but he decided to stay with RB Leipzig, extending his existing contract by another year until 2029.

International career

Eligible for Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (due to his mother hailing from Doboj), Šeško opted for the former, having represented the country at the under-15, under-16, under-17, and under-19 levels. He made his under-19 debut in a friendly game against Austria in September 2020.

In May 2021, Šeško was called up by the senior team manager Matjaž Kek for a pair of friendlies in June 2021. He debuted for Slovenia in a 1–1 friendly tie with North Macedonia on 1 June 2021. At the time he was 18 years and 1 day old and became the youngest debutant in the national team, surpassing the previous record set by Petar Stojanović seven years earlier. On 8 October 2021, Šeško scored his first goal for Slovenia in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Malta, becoming Slovenia's youngest ever goalscorer at the age of 18 years, 4 months and 8 days.

During the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B campaign, Šeško helped Slovenia avoid relegation to League C with two decisive goals. He provided an assist and scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Norway on 24 September 2022, and also scored in a 1–1 draw against Sweden three days later. The goal against Sweden was described as a "wonder goal" by the media, and was nominated as one of the best goals of the matchday by UEFA.

Šeško was Slovenia's top scorer in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers, netting five goals from nine appearances in Group H as Slovenia qualified for its first European Championship since 2000. He was later named in the squad for the final tournament, where he played in all four Slovenia's matches. The team advanced to the knockout stages for the first time and was eliminated by Portugal in the round of 16 on penalties.

On 9 September 2024, Šeško scored his first international hat-trick in a 3–0 victory over Kazakhstan in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League B.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Šeško goal.''

Honours

Red Bull Salzburg
*Austrian Bundesliga: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
*Austrian Cup: 2021–22

RB Leipzig
*DFL-Supercup: 2023

Individual
* Slovenian Footballer of the Year: 2022
* Slovenian Youth Footballer of the Year: 2021, 2022, 2023

References

External links

Benjamin Šeško
at NZS
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sesko, Benjamin
2003 births
Living people
People from Lower Carniola
Slovenian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent
Men's association football forwards
Slovenian men's footballers
21st-century Slovenian sportsmen
Slovenia men's youth international footballers
Slovenia men's international footballers
FC Red Bull Salzburg players
FC Liefering players
RB Leipzig players
2. Liga (Austria) players
Austrian Football Bundesliga players
Bundesliga players
UEFA Euro 2024 players
Slovenian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Austria
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Austria
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Germany