Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs: Levy made worse signing than Emerson on dud whose value has dropped £16m

The Lilywhites appear to have dropped a big clanger than the signing of Emerson Royal with one underwhelming addition.

Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham Hotspur’s new manager, is ushering in a new era after the team’s stormy recent years under managers like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

The Lilywhites have had a winning start to the new Premier League season with three victories and one draw thus far, despite losing Harry Kane to Bayern Munich. The former Celtic manager has already left his mark on the proceedings during his early stay.

Hugo Lloris, the club’s previous captain, also appears to be out of the picture following those adjustments and modifications, despite having secured a spot in the club’s 25-man Premier League squad. Long-serving misfit Eric Dier was also replaced.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has also had a difficult start to the season after being judged surplus to requirements over the summer, as Postecoglou tries to break sharply from the Conte administration.

Emerson Royal, a Brazilian defender who started 20 league games last season, has fallen behind Pedro Porro in the right-back pecking order in recent weeks and has also mostly been kept on the sidelines.

While once described in the past as a “disaster” by ex-Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara, the former Barcelona man is certainly not the worst signing of recent times, however, with the acquisition of former Fulham man, Ryan Sessesgnon having proven far more underwhelming, in truth.

How much was Ryan Sessegnon worth at Fulham?

When the north Londoners signed the young Englishman back in 2019, it appeared to be somewhat of a coup because the teenager had seen an incredible climb after making his first-team debut at the age of just 16 a few years earlier.

Despite being relatively young, the versatile speedster, who can play anywhere down the left wing, has amassed an outstanding total of 25 goals and 18 assists in 120 appearances across all competitions for the Cottagers, having played in both the Premier League and the Championship with the west Londoners.

through WhoScored

The former England U21 international had particularly impressed in the second tier during the 2017/18 campaign after scoring 16 goals and providing six assists in the league, with rumours circulating that he could be set to command a fee of around £50m.

How much did Tottenham pay for Ryan Sessegnon?

The 5-foot-10 dynamo was brought in during what turned out to be Mauricio Pochettino’s final transfer window as manager, along with players like Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso, as the team sought to build on its Champions League run from the previous season.

Manchester United and other clubs had competitive interest in the full-back, but it was Daniel Levy and company who ultimately prevailed, signing him for an initial sum of about £25 million.

With only two goals and six assists for his previous employers in the top division in 2018–19, Sessesgnon didn’t exactly light up the globe, so the £50 million price that had been touted was a bit of a leap of faith.

In hindsight, Levy may wish he had invested those funds elsewhere, with it having proven a disappointing, injury-disrupted four years since then for the 23-year-old.

How much is Ryan Sessegnon worth now?

The Roehampton-born loser, who spent the 2020–21 season on loan at Hoffenheim, has only made 56 appearances across all competitions so far, scoring three goals and providing just four assists in that time due to various injury concerns.

The £55k a week player is now out with a hamstring injury. However, last season, Conte preferred Ivan Perisic or Ben Davies in that left-wing position, and the player appeared just 17 times in league play. Only nine of those appearances came from the opening kickoff.

According to CIES Football Observatory, the once-promising prospect is now estimated to be worth just €10 million (£9 million). This represents a decline of £16 million since his original arrival four years ago.

To put that into perspective, the aforementioned Emerson, for instance – who was also signed for £25m in 2021 – is still valued at €30m (£25m), despite having been described as “dreadful” in the recent past by journalist Josh Bunting.

That indicates just how much of a disappointing signing Sessegnon has been for the north London outfit to date, with it yet to be seen if there is any hope left of a revival once he does eventually return from injury.

How good is Ryan Sessegnon?

The Englishman hasn’t exactly won over fans and analysts with his recent performances; in fact, O’Hara bluntly criticized the player as “not good enough” back in January.

Then, last year, club insider John Wenham delivered a scathing evaluation, referring to Sessegnon as “a Championship player” and adding the following observations:

“We purchased him as this young man with amazing potential and all the necessary qualities. He was exactly the signing I wanted the team to make, so I was overjoyed when we got him.

“But you can look back and see that you were mistaken about some things. Regarding Sessegnon, I was completely mistaken.

He is not fast. Since suffering a hamstring injury, he has stopped taking on new clients. What good is having a wing-back who cannot beat a guy, has no pace, no strength, and cannot deliver a cross if your side is not set up to profit from attacking wing-backs?

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