Football.London journalist Alasdair Gold has hinted Antonio Conte may start Ryan Sessegnon at left wing-back over Ivan Perisic in Tottenham’s Premier League opener against Southampton.
Heading into the new campaign, Conte now has plenty of options at his disposal with Spurs adding six new players to his playing squad.
Croatia international Perisic arrived as the club’s first acquisition on a free transfer with the experienced 33-year-old expected to provide more depth and threat from the wide areas.
He arrived at Spurs nursing a calf injury and although he wasn’t able to see any action during the pre-season tour of South Korea, he received his first minutes in Saturday’s 2-1 win at Rangers.
Perisic will have one more opportunity against Roma to build his fitness in a match scenario before the Southampton fixture, but Gold believes the situation will hand Conte a selection headache.
The journalist explained there may be a prospect that Perisic will not be up to full speed for the Saints and with Sergio Reguilon currently out of Conte’s plans, he could resort to giving Sessegnon the nod to open the campaign.
In a Q&A session for Football.London, Gold said: “Much depends on his fitness. He’s been out since suffering his calf injury on the last day of the Serie A season.
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“He looked sharp in his half hour at the weekend in Glasgow and now the next two weeks are about upping his fitness.
“Perisic and Sessegnon are going to be used in tandem this season with all the competitions ahead. If Perisic can get to the required levels then he stands a chance of starting against Southampton because he’s a real Conte favourite.
“But, I just wonder whether Sessegnon will get the nod for that game as the Croatian is given a little more time to hit the peak fitness for one of the most demanding roles in the team.”
Spurs Web Opinion
A selection headache is a good problem to have for managers in reality as it means he has a competitive squad willing to push for places.
In respect to Sessegnon, he ended last season on a very strong note and would deserve to start against Southampton, but a player of Perisic’s quality should be playing from the off providing he is fit enough.
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