Ex-Spurs man reveals what he thinks has hampered Ryan Sessegnon’s development

Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, Michael Brown has defended Ryan Sessegnon after the disappointing first season the youngster has endured in North London.

Spurs paid £25million to sign the 20-year-old from Fulham last summer after he followed up on an impressive season in the Championship with the Cottagers with a solid debut campaign in the top flight, despite the club eventually succumbing to relegation.

While he was sidelined with an injury for the first few months of the season, he has found playing time hard to come by since returning to fitness at Tottenham.

The England Under-21 international did clock up a few appearances prior to the lockdown but did not play a single minute after the restart.

Reports indicate that Sessegnon is frustrated at the lack of game time and is thus looking for an exit route from Spurs, with Fulham said to be interested in taking him back on loan after winning promotion to the Premier League (Telegraph).

However, Brown insisted that the wide man has not been helped by the managerial change at Spurs and will get a fresh start next season.

Speaking to Football Insider, the pundit said: “He’s a great talent, he’s played lots of games so far in his career.

“He’s gone into a Spurs side that has probably got that little bit of uncertainty having changed their manager.

“I think it could have taken a season for him to settle and he has to come back ready. We mentioned not so long ago that he needs to come back in pre-season as ready as he can to really set the tone. It’s a new start for everyone.”

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It is not fair to put Sessegnon’s disappointing first season down to Pochettino’s sacking as the youngster was not getting much of a look in under the Argentine either. Mourinho has reiterated multiple times that he has been an admirer of the 20-year-old for a long time. Perhaps the Spurs boss has identified a weakness in the youngster’s game that he wants to fix. It could be that we see more of him next season but given the competition for places at left-back as well as in either flank, Europa League will likely be his best hope of getting matches.

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