Tottenham’s Ryan Sessegnon can kick-start career with permanent role at left-back

After seeing Ryan Sessegnon really announce himself to the Tottenham crowd with a goal-scoring display against Bayern Munich, Jose Mourinho was quick to laud the 19-year-old for his performance.

He said (as quoted by The Daily Mail): “That’s his quality, that’s the quality we know he has, he arrives always in dangerous positions, he is a good finisher. He has to learn how to use his body, he was playing against experienced players – Pavard and Boateng – he has a lot to develop, but the potential is there.”

The teenager could certainly hold his head up high despite seeing his side fall to a defeat to the Bundesliga giants, but ultimately for him, it may not have done much in terms of his first-team chances. As per Transfermarkt, all of his appearances this season have come from him playing at left-midfield – an area where Spurs have Son Heung-min to call upon (the South Korean has struck seven times and provided five assists from that position this year).

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It is incredibly difficult to see Sessegnon displace Son from the starting line-up anytime soon and on a regular basis too, and that shouldn’t really be seen as a slight on the former. He happens to be playing in a role where Spurs have one of their most consistent performers of the campaign. But the 19-year-old could carve out of a niche for him, by harking back to his Fulham days.

In his time at Craven Cottage, the England youth international showed his versatility by operating at left-back as well as further forward down that flank. Indeed, as per Transfermarkt, it is the position in which he has played the most amount of football in his professional career – 48 games, with six goals and six assists to his name too.

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Quite crucially for him at Spurs, both Danny Rose and Ben Davies have struggled to establish themselves as first-choice in recent years, with both Mauricio Pochettino and Mourinho both rotating between the two. This season alone has seen them play 14 and nine times respectively. It means Sessegnon has the perfect chance for him to go back to his roots, and really establish himself as an attacking left-back, or even wing-back, if Mourinho decides to employ a back-three.

His eye for a goal as evidenced by the strike against Bayern showed he could also be an excellent attacking outlet too. A tactical tweak may well be the key to helping him kick-start his career at Spurs.

Meanwhile, Tottenham swooping for this starlet who was lauded by Luis Campos would be a major coup.