According to the Telegraph, Ajax and Fulham are interested in Ryan Sessegnon. The 20-year-old is only 12 months into a six-year deal at Tottenham, but his future is somewhat up in the air after a disappointing debut campaign. Sessegnon hardly featured under Jose Mourinho and needs regular football for the sake of his development, so could interest elsewhere lure him away from North London?
How is Sessegnon’s relationship with Mourinho?
Despite only making six Premier League appearances and amassing less than 800 minutes of playing time in all competitions, Mourinho is still a believer in Sessegnon. He wants the left-sided player in the first-team next season and could give him more opportunities.
Danny Rose and Ben Davies were preferred over Sessegnon at left-back while Heung-min Son and Steven Bergwijn were preferred on the left-flank. Mourinho has other wide options in Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela too, so there really is stiff competition at senior level.
That being said, our manager has been very complimentary about Sessegnon, telling Football.London in May: “I think Ryan is absolutely fantastic, I have known him since a kid in Fulham.” Mourinho also thinks the wide-man will eventually evolve into a left-back, so it’s clear that he has plans for Sessegnon in the future.
Would he really leave us?
Permanently? Probably not. On loan? Possibly. Sessegnon can’t have been happy with the lack of football in 2019/20, so he may be open to a temporary move away if he can’t be guaranteed opportunities.
Ajax sold Hakim Ziyech to Chelsea and are on the hunt for a replacement, so there’s a void that Sessegnon could fill. Fulham had the 20-year-old on the books for 11 years before selling him to Tottenham, so he’d have no trouble returning to Craven Cottage.
What must Sessegnon do to turn his fortunes around?
He needs games. Sessegnon’s career has stalled after a disappointing debut season at Tottenham, so it’s important that he’s playing regularly in 2020/21. Whether that’s here or elsewhere, Sessegnon needs minutes.
At left-back, Mourinho has Rose and Davies. On the wing, he has Lamela, Moura, Son and Bergwijn. Sessegnon faces a difficult task to make the matchday squad as a result, so his best hope of getting playing time may be at another club for now. Time will tell.
In other news, Tottenham have identified an emergency replacement for Harry Kane