Jose Mourinho Compares Ryan Sessegnon to Chelsea Legend

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has compared young defender Ryan Sessegnon to Chelsea legend Ashley Cole.

“I think Ryan is absolutely fantastic, I have known him since a kid in Fulham,” Mourinho said as quoted by Mirror. “When he comes to the first team in the Premier League it is different to the Championship.

“I think in this moment he is a winger on the left, can also play on the right, can learn progressively and even develop physically, which he is doing.

“Even from the last time I saw him and the first time I met him when I came here he is already different physically.

“I think Ryan can play as a left-back. Probably the left-back in the last decade was Ashley Cole, in spite of him being from two enemy clubs, but he was fantastic.

“But Ryan has lots of similarities with Ashley, and he can learn how to defend.”

Sessegnon is one of the most highly-rated younsters in English football. The 19-year-old earned himself a move to Spurs during the summer from Fulham following a series of impressive displays over the years. He made his first-team debut for Fulham in 2016 when he was aged just 16 and thereafter went on to make 106 League appearances for the Cottagers prior to leaving them.

In a bonus for Spurs, Sessegnon also joined them with a fair bit of Premier League experience under his belt. He went on to make 35 appearances for the Cottagers who were relegated from the top-flight last season and even chipped in with two goals.

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Mourinho will be hoping to get the most out of Sessegnon

Spurs appointed Mourinho to lead them recently after they rather shockingly decided to sack Mauricio Pochettino.  The Lilywhites have not won a piece of major silverware since 2008 when they claimed the League Cup and they will be hoping that Mourinho can finally bring an end to the trophy drought. The self-proclaimed special one has after all never left a club in the past without bringing it silverware.

Considering that a number of important Spurs first-team players are expected to depart next summer, Mourinho will have to focus on getting Sessegnon to be a vital cog for the side as he is very much the future. If Sessegnon does indeed end up developing into a Cole type player, it will be a major bonus for English football in general.

The one thing which has eluded the England national team for nearly sixty years now is a piece of silverware. Gareth Southgate has developed the Three Lions into a quality unit though their defence is still questionable. A Cole like player would do it a world of wonders.

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