It has not been the debut season we were quite hoping for from Ryan Sessegnon.
Having followed the lad since his first forays at Fulham I really did think he could burst onto the Tottenham scene and make an immediate impact, once he recovered from the hamstring injury he brought with him across London.
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I felt my optimism vindicated when he scored an excellent goal on his maiden start against Bayern Munich, but he has not left a mark on any of his subsequent eight appearances.
But that has not done his reputation any harm at Hotspur Way. Football London understands that the coaching staff has been impressed with Sessegnon in training and still have high hopes for the 19-year-old.
And so they should.
If you look at the crop of young English talent coming through across the division – Callum Hudson Odoi, Mason Greenwood, Bukayo Saka and many more, Sessegnon’s blossoming CV is better than all of them, except arguably for Phil Foden.
- Championship Team of the Year 2016-17 – the youngest player to ever be included at aged just 16.
- Won five individual end-of-season PFA awards including Championship Player of the Year in 2017-18 – after scoring 15 goals to inspire Fulham’s promotion. (As a 17-year-old!)
- The first Championship player ever to be nominated for PFA Young Player of the Year in 2017-18.
- Has already made 133 senior appearances and been capped 41 times by England at youth level.
- Has already scored 26 senior goals – and he is 50% a defender! For comparison, Foden, Hudson-Odoi, Greenwood and Saka have 33 between them.
It’s not Sessegnon’s fault that since he’s arrived in the Premier League he’s played for two teams who don’t know their arses from their elbows.
Once he finds some confidence and fitness, he will be a star for us.