When Daniel Levy finally broke his transfer market hoodoo in the summer of 2019, there was always one eye on the future for Tottenham Hotspur.
The north London outfit are finally reaping the rewards from a £55m investment in Tanguy Ndombele, one of four signings to end a barren two-window run without signings under Mauricio Pochettino.
Jack Clarke, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon were the other names to join Spurs that summer.
The latter has been enjoying a loan spell at Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim this season, where he has been shining under the radar ahead of a potential return to Spurs’ first-team set-up.
Sessegnon has only featured 12 times for Spurs since his £25m move from Fulham, so the chance to impress at an elite level has surely done him the world of good.
Indeed, the 20-year-old, now valued at just £18m, has played 21 matches for the German side across all competitions, including the Europa League and has only just returned to the starting fold following injury.
The young England U21 international has been deployed all along that left flank throughout the season, which should make him an interesting proposition for when he comes back to north London.
Do you want to see Sessegnon in the first-team next season?
Yes!
No!
At left-back, Jose Mourinho has a superb option in Sergio Reguilon but due to the nature of how they managed to clinch him, Real Madrid have a buy-back option to take him back to the Bernabeu at the click of Zinedine Zidane’s fingers.
Given this form, that scenario coming to fruition isn’t out of the realms of possibility as aside from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, the Spaniard has arguably been Spurs’ player of the season.
Sessegnon has displayed some key defensive attributes over at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena – in the Bundesliga, he’s proven to be a hard man to get past, averaging 1.5 tackles per game whilst his reading of the game is impressive too, managing 1.3 interceptions each outing, via WhoScored.
By comparison, this isn’t too much different to Reguilon, who has averaged two tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game in the Premier League this season.
Further up the pitch, Sessegnon has chipped in with four goal contributions (two scored, two assisted), whilst also managing to show a creative side with 0.6 key passes per game.
This figure is currently better than what Spurs’ no.10, Ndombele, is managing (0.5) in the English top-flight.
And only four members of Mourinho’s current squad have delivered more contributions towards goals.
Sessegnon’s main challenger may always be Heung-min Son but at times of injuries – like now – or periods of rest, it’s clear that the likes of Steven Bergwijn (zero goals scored) and Erik Lamela (as many goal contributions as red cards) have struggled to step up in his absence.
In the past, the young speed demon has drawn comparisons to Gareth Bale, so who better to learn off at such a young age – should the Welshman stick around for another campaign in N17.
Whilst ex-teammate Stephan Johansen dubbed Sessegnon a “huge talent” when he was just 17, also claiming that “the sky was the limit” for him.
Therefore, on the above evidence, the former Fulham starlet has every right to have a crack in the senior set-up next season and in doing so, Mourinho would help the club save millions as he’s a ready-made solution to any inbound problem – and even then, he’s a nice option to be able to call upon.
AND in other news, Spurs swoop for “unique” £34m-rated beast would deal a huge blow to Oliver Skipp…