[SPOTV News = Reporter Kim Geon-il] Tottenham Hotspur, where injured players are returning one by one, has another injured player.
In an interview after the match against Manchester United in the 21st round of the 2023-24 English Premier League held at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on the 15th (Korean time), coach Enze Postecoglou said, "Defender Ryan Sessegnon had a slight problem last week and will be absent." “I’ll probably be able to play in a few weeks,” he said.
Sessegnon left the team with a hamstring injury while training ahead of the match against Leicester City in the 23rd round of the Premier League last season.
The initial diagnosis was that it would take six weeks for him to return, but on May 6 last year, he was diagnosed as needing surgery and was out for the season. Since then, he has been focusing on rehabilitation after completing hamstring surgery in July of last year.
Sessegnon was on the substitute list for the FA Cup round of 64 match against Burnley on the 7th, and was substituted in the 83rd minute of the second half and reported his return after being on the pitch for about 10 minutes.
However, it was reported that he was injured again after being excluded from the list against Manchester United.
Sessegnon, who grew up in the Fulham youth team, debuted at Fulham and wore a Tottenham uniform in 2019. To gain experience playing in the 2020-21 season, he was loaned to TSG Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga and returned to Tottenham in the 2021-22 season.
Sessegnon competed with Sergio Reguilon for the starting position in his first year back, demonstrating his multi-talented ability to play left winger as well as left side defender, which is his main position. Crucially, with the arrival of coach Antonio Conte midway through the season, Sessegnon, who can play left wingback in a three-back, began to be more important than Reguilon. Accordingly, manager Conte and then-sports director Fabio Paratici even decided to keep Sessegnon and send Reguilon out in the transfer market.
The problem is that Sessegnon has a so-called ‘glass body’ and is prone to frequent injuries. Sessegnon missed 21 games this season, 22 games last season, and 31 games the season before that due to injury.
In September 2022, London media outlet Football London pointed out Sessegnon's injury problem. Football London reporter Alisdair Gold said: "The most important thing for Sessegnon is injuries. He has to avoid injuries. He has had injury problems every time he has played for his age group. "If he gets playing time and doesn't get injured, his confidence will go up. “There will be more. If so, we can see how much he grows.”
He added, "Coach Conte is very satisfied with his performance. He also has Ivan Perisic, one of the best in the world in that position, as his mentor."
What is interesting is that Coach Postecoglou, who met Sessegnon for the first time, expressed his intention to use Sessegnon as a left winger rather than a left side defender. This is evidenced by the fact that in the game against Burnley, Sessegnon was sent as a left-sided attacker in the 4-3-3 position. Since Destiny Udogi is firmly established as a left-wing defender, it is interpreted as a plan to expand the player's usage range. In this way, Sessegnon was able to play as a left winger as well as a left side defender, which had the effect of signing a player in the winter transfer market, but due to a recurrence of injury, this was not possible.
Sessegnon's injury could also affect Tottenham's transfer market plans. Tottenham planned to send Sergio Reguilon, who returned from loan from Manchester United, back to Brentford. A concept that was only possible because Sessegnon returned. However, with Sessegnon's departure, there is a possibility that Reguilon may remain in the team.