Fulham sensation Ryan Sessegnon is no stranger to playing with the big boys but admits Premier League is tougher than expected
Teenage whizkid is determined to prove he can mix it with the best in his debut Prem season
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RYAN SESSEGNON cut his teeth playing against older kids in a football cage.
Mixing it with the big boys of the Premier League has been harder than the young Fulham star expected.
But 18-year-old Sessegnon is determined to prove he belongs in the top flight.
And he has set himself the target of following the likes of fellow young gun Jadon Sancho into the senior England squad before the end of the season.
Sessegnon’s football education began in Roehampton, west London, not far from Fulham’s training ground but a world away from the glamour of the Premier League.
He said: “There was a football cage next to my house where we used to meet up and play all night, until we couldn’t really see.
“There was a street light outside but it was broken.
“I used to go to the cage with my brother Steven. Both of us would play one-touch and two-touch football and ping the ball at each other.
“We’d play older kids from the block and the area.
“I was about 11 or 12 when I started, playing against bigger players. I would use my speed to get out of trouble.
“In my head I used to always think football is what I wanted to do as a career.
“But I never thought that four years later I would be playing a Championship game, making my debut for Fulham.
“It has happened very quickly but I’m embracing it and I’m just going to continue to learn and improve.”
It is fair to say promotion to the Premier League has been a difficult step up for both Sessegnon and Fulham.
Champions Manchester City and their forward Raheem Sterling have presented the biggest challenge so far — and Sessegnon pulls no punches about his own performances.
The left-side specialist, recalling the Cottagers’ 3-0 loss at the Etihad, said: “City are very good.
“It was tough, especially playing full-back against Raheem.
“He was just running forward so much. So much energy.
“It’s difficult when you don’t really have cover. They’re just an attacking team.
“Going up a level has proved to be harder than I thought it would.
“It’s been very challenging, but at the same time that challenge has been good for me.
“Of course I wanted to do a bit better by this stage, in terms of performances. “I don’t think I’ve been near my best in certain games.
“I look at all the mistakes I’ve made before I watch my good stuff.
“If I have misplaced a pass, I want to know why I’ve done that or whether I could have looked at a different pass. For me, I just look at it that I’m young and I can only improve.
“It’s still early in the season and it was never going to be the same as the Championship.
“I’m not trying to put too much pressure on myself.
“I’m just trying to work hard and be the best that I can.”
That is Fulham’s challenge, too. Adjusting to the unforgiving environment of the Premier League is one big part of that.
The other, as Sessegnon admits to Wrighty, is incorporating all the new players signed in a £100million summer spending spree after promotion via the play-offs.
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Owner Shahid Khan — who also had ambitious plans to buy Wembley — may have expected more than a relegation struggle for his investment. But the reality is that Fulham are rock bottom of the division, struggling to score at one end and leaking goals at the other.
Asked what the club’s target is, Sessegnon’s answer is simple: “Stay up in the Premier League in our first season and then the next season we can push on.”
But on a personal level, he is a young man in a hurry to reach the very top of the game.
He has been named in the England Under-21 squad and by the end of this campaign he wants to have followed in the footsteps of former international team-mates who have been chosen for the senior squad by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate.
Sessegnon said: “I think 18 is a good age to make your debut. That’s my target. Especially seeing players from my age group making their debuts, like Jadon Sancho, Mason Mount and James Maddison.
“They are players I’ve played with for England, so I look at that and I just want to be part of it.”
Just like when his brother took him to the cage.