While West Ham United’s attack is in a state of flux following relegation, the future of Slovenia’s frontline appears set in stone for the next decade thanks to Manchester United’s Benjamin Sesko and Swansea’s Zan Vipotnik.
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Ruben Amorim’s sacking and Michael Carrick’s appointment, Sesko rattled in nine goals across his final 14 Premier League appearances of 2025/26.
Compatriot Vipotnik claimed the Championship’s Golden Boot after racking up 23 in 35 starts for Swansea City in the division below.
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Four months after Sesko broke Nuno Espirito Santo’s heart with an extraordinary stoppage time equaliser at the London Stadium, West Ham United may call upon his fellow Slovenian to bring Premier League football back to the capital club.
West Ham United may look to sign Benjamin Sesko’s Slovenia teammate Zan Vipotnik
Hammers News can confirm that former head of recruitment Max Hahn recommended Vipotnik to West Ham before the January window.
If ‘proven’ Championship talent is the way to go – Sydie Peck, Harrison Burrows, Nestory Irankunda, Dael Fry and Ivor Pandur have been linked – then who better than Zan Vipotnik to lead the line in claret and blue next term?
“The guy has incredible qualities,” Sesko tells SportKlub of the former NK Maribor frontman. “We are very good friends in the national team. We hang out all the time. He is a really good guy, he really has a good heart. He is a very calm person.
“We just connected and I really congratulate him on a great season, he really deserves it. I think he has proven himself that he can play in the strongest league.”
According to local source Swansea Independent, Vipotnik is in no rush to leave South Wales two years and 32 goals after joining from Bordeaux. The Celje-born 24-year-old also signed a contract extension in the spring. The Swans would likely refuse to consider offers below £15 million.
Then again, should West Ham make a move, Vipotnik would surely also consider the Hammers to represent a much firmer shot at Premier League promotion. Swansea finished eleventh last term, nine points off the top six, though another top-half finish would be viewed as something of an overachievement.
Vipotnik enjoyed a ‘magical’ Championship season in South Wales
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“I won’t say [a transfer away from Swansea] was close, but we were finding solutions because of what we heard from the people in the club,” Vipotnik said in May, via BBC Sport. “But at the end we said that we were going to try our luck to survive here.
“It was tough [to adapt]. I was at one point third-choice, but they gave me the chance in the next one or two games and I scored in the first one, scored in the second one, scored in the third one.
“I stayed here and at the end of the season it was magical for me.”
Vipotnik appears to be the dream striker signing of many West Ham fans amid reported interest in Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor, Leyton Orient sensation Dom Ballard and Cardiff City targetman Yousef Salech.
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