Former Tottenham head of elite potential identification David Webb has told that the north London side started to profile Fulham starlet Ryan Sessegnon when he was just 14.
The now 17-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to north London over the past year, but on Wednesday it was reported by the Mirror that the teenage left-back had snubbed both Spurs and Liverpool to agree a new three-year deal with the Cottagers.
The England Under-19 international, who plays on the left flank in defence or midfield, had a superb breakout year in the last campaign after making his senior debut last August and was even named in the Championship’s PFA Team of the Year after 25 appearances, five goals and three assists.
But, Sessegnon has been on the radar for rival clubs for a number of years now and Webb has shared that teams were already looking at him three years a go.
“He was highlighted very early even before he broke through into the first team,” told Webb, as quoted by the Sky Sports website.
“You could see his potential.
“I did have a bit of insight when we started to profile the player at 14 for Tottenham as close sources were able to share valuable information on Ryan. What was good about him was that he played with maturity at such an early age. There was a lot of interest in him even when he was 14 but that did not affect his performances.
“He was always playing above his age too. If you are looking at a 15-year-old player, is he training with the Under-18 side? Has he maybe even worked with the Under-23 group? Ryan had that history. In fact, he was training with the first team at 15.”
Tottenham have had large success in bringing in young English players in recent years, which includes Eric Dier from Sporting Lisbon, Dele Alli from MK Dons and even Harry Kane who moved from the Watford academy in 2004.
They will be likely to keep track of Sessegnon’s career following his contract extension with the player tipped to be a star of the future.
He could even be playing in the Premier League soon with Fulham aiming for promotion following a play-off defeat last season.