Time’s up: Spurs must finally axe Poch flop who’s worth almost 9x less than Maddison – opinion
It would probably be fair to say that Tottenham Hotspur have had mixed luck with transfers over the last five years or so.
Daniel Levy and Co have sometimes gotten it very right, such as with Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Destiny Udogie, but there have also been some significant blunders, such as Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele, and Emmerson Royal, just to name a few.
However, another miss is often forgotten: Ryan Sessegnon.
The Englishman, who was signed by Mauricio Pochettino, has seen his value plummet and is now worth nine times less than summer signing James Maddison.
Ryan Sessegnon’s Spurs career
Pochettino’s Lilywhites paid around £25m to sign the “incredible” Sessegnon, as described by talent scout Jacek Kulig, from Fulham in the summer of 2019 following an impressive season from the then-19-year-old in which he scored two goals and provided six assists in 35 Premier League games for the West Londoners.
Unfortunately for all involved, his first year in north London was a disaster. He made just 12 appearances all season, scoring one goal and providing one assist, and missed 33 games due to a hamstring injury.
The following year was a little better on the injury front as he only missed nine games, and a loan move to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim saw him make 29 first-team appearances, in which he scored twice and turned provider five times.
However, just when it looked like things had taken a turn for the better, the England U21 international was hit with more injury problems.
Over the next three seasons, these problems would see him miss 92 games, which limited him to 45 mostly substitute appearances in those three campaigns.
| Sessegnon’s career post-Spurs move | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Senior Appearances | G+A | Goal Involvements per Match | Games Missed Through Injury |
| 2019/20 | 12 | 2 | 0.16 | 33 |
| 2020/21 | 29 | 5 | 0.17 | 9 |
| 2021/22 | 21 | 2 | 0.09 | 31 |
| 2022/23 | 23 | 3 | 0.13 | 22 |
| 2023/24 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 39 |
| Total | 86 | 12 | 0.13 | 134 |
| All Stats via Transfermarkt | ||||
Ultimately, while the 23-year-old was once dubbed a “huge talent” by former teammate Stefan Johansen, half a decade of persistent injury problems and minimal game time has seriously taken a toll on Sessegnon’s career and valuation.
Sessegnon’s valuation in 2024
According to the CIES Football Observatory, Sessegnon is worth just €5m today, which converts to around £4m, or £21m less than the fee Spurs paid Fulham for the full-back almost five years ago.