Tottenham: Ryan Sessegnon and his future with Spurs

Ryan Sessegnon struggled in his first season at Tottenham Hotspur with little game time and many injuries, so what happened and what is his future at Spurs?

Two seasons ago, Ryan Sessegnon was a teenage phenom whose production helped propel Fulham back into the Premier League.

Fast forward two seasons and Sessegnon is now a 20-year-old with an unsure future.

What happened to Sessegnon since his breakthrough campaign and what is his future at Tottenham Hotspur?

Sessegnon breakthrough campaign

Back in the 2017-18 campaign, Fulham was battling across the Championship for one of their many promotions over the last decade. A big part of that success – including the playoff game – was the left side of the pitch being manned by Ryan Sessegnon.

Sessegnon, who was 18 at the end of that season, played 52 matches for the Cottagers, starting 48 of them and amassing an incredible 4,404 minutes across all competitions. All of those minutes were rewarded as the young Englishman scored 16 goals and assisted a further eight across all competitions.

Sessegnon played in three positions during the season, left back for 20 matches, left wing for 17 games, and at left midfield 15 times. Of those positions Sessegnon, was most productive as a left wing, scoring 10 of his 16 goals and creating five of his eight assists from that attacking position.

Sessegnon’s success carried throughout the season as he produced three braces during the year and a hat-trick against Sheffield. The culmination of those and his teammates came during their run in the Championship playoffs where Sessegnon scored one goal and assisted two more in the side’s three matches to win promotion.

Having just been promoted from the U18 squad in July of 2016, it was a meteoric rise for the young left-sider, whose market value had climbed to nearly 40 million euros by August 2018. However, since that time, things have not quite worked out as planned or anticipated for Sessegnon.

Tough two seasons for Sessegnon

The success of the Championship run was very short-lived for Fulham as is often the case in the Premier League, where it is succeed or die, which meant management changes for the Cottagers. Slaviša Jokanović, who had successfully guided the Cottagers to promotion, lasted only until November.

In November, Claudio Ranieri – yes the same guy who had just lifted the Premier League trophy managing Leicester – was hired to right the ship. Ranieri lasted all of four months at Fulham and then Scott Parker was brought in to oversee the club as caretaker until the end of the term.

Since then, Sessegnon joined Tottenham Hotspur and has now had two managers during his year with the club. That is five different managers for a 20-year-old budding professional over the last 24 months. I do not care how good you might be, five managers over two years is not going to bring anyone success

When Sessegnon lost Slaviša Jokanović, he lost more than a manager. He seemed to lose his position. After playing left-back 20 times and left-wing 17 times, Sessegnon only made 11 appearances for Fulham at those two positions. In fact, Sessegnon had more than twice as many games at right-wing (seven) than at left-wing.

So, a year after contributing 15 goals in a position, he was only given three appearances. It just does not make sense. It is not like Sessegnon was not playing, appearing 38 times for the club and missing only two games due to injury.

His minutes were down by nearly 2,000 at 2,490 minutes on the term, but again Fulham played a LOT fewer matches. Just one season after having what seemed like a breakthrough campaign on the left, it was like everyone forgot what made Sessegnon good, as he made appearances at center-forward, right-back, and right midfield during the campaign.

Maybe it was good for Tottenham that he had a less-than-stellar campaign with only two goals and six assists, as his market value dropped and Spurs were able to sign Sessegnon for less than 30 million Euros, a good deal for a player valued at nearly 40 million.

However, Sessegnon hasn’t had the best time for Spurs. After missing only two games due to injury across 90 matches and nearly 6,900 minutes, Sessegnon was seemingly injured from the moment he signed with Spurs. Sessegnon missed the first three months of the season with a hamstring injury and was just getting back to some fitness when Jose Mourinho took over.

After a few appearances over the holidays and in some non-league affairs, Sessegnon last made an appearance for the team in March as Tottenham limped out of Champions League to RB Leipzig. Maybe Jose rates Sessegnon, we do not know, but he was on the bench for seven of Spurs’ nine matches in the restart. He just never made if off the bench, so what now?

Across two managers and four competitions, Sessegnon made 12 appearances, scoring one goal and assisting one more, not exactly what was in mind when 30 million was dropped.

Future for Sessegnon and Spurs

We know several things regarding Ryan Sessegnon. First, he is super young and needs minutes. At only 20, he apparently has four more years to be eligible for the PFA Young Player Award, so we need some patience.

Second, Sessegnon needs minutes, whether on a loan or at Tottenham, he needs to be on the pitch for both experience and to regain the confidence he has clearly lost over the last two seasons.

Third and maybe most important, Sessegnon needs a position. Playing in seven different positions on the pitch is not a path to a successful future.

Lastly, we also know there is no way Daniel Levy is going to take a loss on Sessegnon, so with a contract until 2025, he going to be a Spur for the foreseeable future. Ultimately, a loan is not the answer — especially outside the Premier League — mostly because Sessegnon needs a position.

The most direct route to a permanent position in the Tottenham squad is to fight for it right here at N17 and impress Mourinho. Whether it is wing, midfield, or fullback really does not matter, what does is that he plays on the left and can develop.

One could argue Serge Aurier is as much a winger as he is a right back, maybe Sessegnon can provide Spurs that option on the left. Gareth Bale took a similar path to his success, sticking to the left side and eventually coming good. Ultimately, Sessegnon is just too talented not to come good at some point for Tottenham.

However, before that can happen, his position needs to be sorted and he needs to maintain his health and fitness, which can lead to an opportunity to battle for the minutes he so desperately needs. Both Ben Davies and Heung-Min Son were overplayed – absent their own injuries of course – during the last season.

Would it not be great to have one player, already in the side to help rotate and rest them both as Spurs trudge through a long European campaign in search of a trophy. I think it would be, and Ryan Sessegnon is just the young man to do the job, bringing some more balance to an unbalanced squad. What do you think?