Two words for Fulham star Ryan Sessegnon if he considers move to Manchester United: Luke Shaw
The 17-year-old has been linked with a £40million move to the Red Devils after starring in the Championship for the Cottagers
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I REMEMBER seeing Ryan Sessegnon terrorise Hull in a FA Cup tie last season when he was just 16.
It was the first time I'd seen him play and he made a huge impression.
But there are just two words for Sessegnon if he is even considering a move to Manchester United: Luke Shaw.
And then put the thought right out of his mind.
When Shaw went to United from Southampton in 2014, he was a few weeks shy of his 19th birthday, yet still being heralded as England’s future left-back who would make the position his own for a decade.
Look at Shaw now – 22 and struggling to make the United team, let alone the England squad, and being bawled out by Jose Mourinho, during and after every game he DOES play, it seems.
Of course, it could all have been different if he had not suffered such bad luck with injuries, which began with a stop-start first season at United and then the broken leg which kept him out of most of the 2015-16 campaign.
But it isn’t. And even if Sessegnon is more fortunate physically, going to United now would put unnecessary mental pressure on him.
A SHAW THING Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho eyeing £40m Fulham wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon this summer with Luke Shaw set to leave
Football history is littered with tales of youthful promise unfulfilled, of wonderkids who make the big move too soon. For every Wayne Rooney, who flourished from pretty much the word go at Old Trafford after becoming the world’s most expensive teenager in 2004, there’s a Shaw or a John Bostock.
The latter became Crystal Palace’s youngest ever starter at the age of 15 and the second youngest to make an appearance for new club Tottenham at the age of 16.
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Nearly 10 years later, Bostock is at Turkish side Bursaspor and has never made an appearance in the Premier League.
Wilfried Zaha, by his own admission, went to United too young, at the age of 20. It is only after time back at Crystal Palace, five years later, that Zaha is being linked with another big move and looks ready for it.
Sessegnon, at 17, has all the time in the world and if he is as good as many people think he is, he will rise to the top.
The best scenario for him would be to help to be promoted to the Premier League and develop organically at Craven Cottage.
Even if they don’t go up this year, another season of regular, competitive football in the Championship would do him no harm.
But going to United might. Mourinho is not exactly renowned for his nurturing of young talent and why put yourself in that situation, on addition to all the other pressures of being at one of the biggest clubs in the world before you are even allowed to buy a drink legally?
Anyone who cares about Sessegnon should tell him to stay put, play as much football as he can and wait until an offer comes which he really can’t refuse.
An approach from United at this stage of his career is one he definitely can.