Fulham defender Ragnar Sigurdsson has admitted “there’s no surprise” that teammate Ryan Sessegnon is being eyed by the Premier League big boys.
Sports site Football London reported this week that Spurs have set their sights strongly on the Craven Cottage sensation as they aim to stick with their model of concentrating on rising rather than established star.
It is said that Liverpool, who have been strongly linked with Sessegnon, have given up on signing the teenager as they believe he has his heart set on joining Tottenham.
Fulham centre-back Sigurdsson is in no doubt about the calibre and potential of his club colleague following a season in which he was a key player in their late surge to the Championship play-offs.
However, the Icelandic admitted his surprise that Sessegnon had not been the subject of major offers in the recently completed campaign.
“One hundred per cent [he can play in the Premier League]. He’s a great talent, he just turned 17 and he played more than half of the games this season, he scored a lot of goals,” said Sigurdsson, as quoted by Football London.
“He has a very bright future. I’m just surprised he didn’t get any offers during the season. I think he was that good. There’s no surprise there (in reported interest).”
Spurs could now be ready to spend big on Sessegnon as he fits the bill of a young player with vast potential and who can be developed by Mauricio Pochettino and his coaching staff on the training ground.
Sessegnon, who turned 17 last month, is regarded as the next Gareth Bale given the impact he has made since entering the professional game as a flying left-back, the position where the Real Madrid star began his career.
The teenager is so highly rated among his peers that he was last week named in the PFA Championship team of the season despite his tender age.
Sessegnon, who can play at both left-back and on the left wing, has made elite clubs sit up and take notice with his precocious Championship displays in the recently completed season.
He has scored seven goals from 30 first-team matches in the campaign and also weighed in with four assists, remarkable tallies for a player who is not only foremost a defender but also one who is so young.