Was Ryan Sessegnon right to snub a Premier League move for Fulham stay? The wonderkids who made the leap

Sessegnon is staying at Craven Cottage until 2020
Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
George Elek30 June 2017

Ryan Sessegnon decided to pledge his immediate future to Fulham, turning down the advances of Tottenham and Liverpool to stay at his hometown club.

In an admirable move, the 17-year-old left-back was keen to keep playing first-team football rather than swap minutes for the glamour and riches of the Premier League.

Fulham won many plaudits last season for their swashbuckling style under manager Slavisa Jokanovic, and Sessegnon seemingly has no doubt that Craven Cottage is currently the best place for his development.

"Last season I got a lot of opportunities so I want to continue that," he said.

"When you are young you just want to play as many games as you can.

This decision to stay put certainly bucks the usual trend when young talents are targeted by the Premier League powerhouses.

We have picked out some examples of players who have decided to make the leap, and assessed the wisdom of their decisions...

John Bostock (Crystal Palace to Spurs)

Getty Images

Then: He became Palace’s youngest ever player when making his debut aged 15 years and 287 days, but opted to move across London to Spurs in 2008 a few months later. The fee, settled at up to £1.25m, had to be decided by tribunal after a disagreement between the clubs.

What happened? The move to White Hart Lane was not a success, with Bostock never featuring in a Premier League game and making just a handful of Uefa Cup appearances. Loan spells at Brentford, Hull and others followed with little success, before a permanent move abroad to Royal Antwerp in 2013.

Bostock, now playing for RC Lens, was recently awarded Ligue 2 Player of the Season as he looks to rebuild his career on the continent.

Verdict: He could well be on the way back up the footballing pyramid, but Bostock should have retained faith in the club that had nurtured his talent.

Should have stayed

Patrick Roberts (Fulham to Manchester City)

(GETTY )
GETTY

Then: The striker was described by then-Fulham manager Felix Magath as “an extraordinary talent” and featured sporadically for the club in his teens. Manchester City came calling and, aged 18, Roberts was on his way north for a fee of approximately £12m.

What happened? Very little initially, apart from a couple of cameos off the bench for his new club. Six months later Celtic snapped him up on an 18-month loan deal in which Roberts scored 15 goals in 43 Premiership appearances.

The highlight of his career so far was a magnificent solo effort against his parent club Man City in a 1-1 Champions League draw.

Verdict: It looks likely that Roberts will leave Manchester this summer, with Celtic one of many clubs said to be after his signature. His stock has risen and, given the fee that Fulham scooped, this looks a good move for both player and club.

Right move

Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton to Liverpool)

Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Then: Shelvey became Charlton’s youngest ever player in 2008, when manager Alan Pardew gave the schoolboy his debut having just turned 16. He scored seven league goals in the two following seasons, before a switch to Liverpool for an initial £1.7m.

What happened? He played a fair amount of Premier League football in his first season at Anfield, before a very successful loan spell at Blackpool was cut short due to an injury crisis at his parent club.

He never truly established himself in the first team on Merseyside, but has been successful at both Swansea and Newcastle since. Six England caps have followed and, while inconsistency and attitude problems persist, he has proven his worth at the top level.

Verdict: While his big move to Liverpool didn’t work out, there is no doubting Shelvey’s quality and he will surely be a Premier League player for years to come.

Right move

Grant Hall (Brighton to Tottenham)

Getty Images

Then: Centre-back Hall signed for Brighton from non-league Lewes but only made three appearances for the south coast club. He turned down a new three-year deal there to sign for Spurs.

What happened? He spent almost his whole Tottenham career out on loan. Spells at Swindon, Birmingham and Blackpool beckoned, and he left without much attention to sign for QPR in 2015.

Verdict: Hall is now an established Championship player and, although his Tottenham move was not a success in itself, it is hard to believe he would have any regrets.

Right move

Wilfried Zaha (Palace to Manchester United)

Getty Images

Then: The skilful winger burst onto the scene at Selhurst Park in 2010, cementing his spot as a key member of the team aged just 18. Zaha had amassed over 100 league appearances for Palace by the time Manchester United bought him in January 2013.

What happened? Sir Alex Ferguson had been the manager to sign Zaha, but by the time he arrived at the club in the summer of 2013 it was David Moyes in charge. He failed to settle and, after a brief stint at Cardiff, returned home to Palace.

Verdict: Zaha is now back to his best and has been linked to many of the Premier League’s top clubs, but the move to Old Trafford took two crucial years out of his career and stunted his progression.

Should have stayed

Rob Holding (Bolton to Arsenal)

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Then: Holding started at Bolton aged just seven and, except for one game on loan at Bury, had spent his whole career there until Arsenal signed him last summer for a snip at approximately £2m. The elegant defender had won Bolton’s player of the season award aged just 19.

What happened? Due to injuries in Arsene Wenger’s defence, Holding made his Premier League debut in the 2016-17 season curtain-raiser against Liverpool, but was sparingly used early in the campaign.

When Wenger switched to a back-three in the final couple of months he became a regular, especially impressing in the FA Cup Final win over Chelsea.

Verdict: So far, so very good. Holding looks like one of the best prospects in English football and the only party who may not be happy about this move are Bolton due to the transfer sum.

Right move

Patrick Bamford (Nottingham Forest to Chelsea)

Getty Images

Then: An academy team superstar at Forest, once scoring five goals and getting three assists in an FA youth cup 9-1 win over Wigan, Bamford only made two substitute appearances for the first-team before moving to Chelsea aged 18.

What happened? Eleven months after arriving at Stamford Bridge he embarked on a prolific loan spell at MK Dons. A good spell at Derby was then followed by a 17 goal-haul in the Championship for Middlesbrough.

Despite these scoring antics he was never given a chance in west London, and late spells away were less productive. A move back to Middlesbrough has, so far, failed to reignite his career.

Verdict: With no chance to prove himself at Chelsea, but an impressive loan record, one has to feel like Bamford could have been something special had he stayed at Forest.

Should have stayed

Kyle Naughton & Kyle Walker (Sheffield United to Tottenham)

Walker
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I

Then: Full-back duo Kyle and Kyle were signed in a double swoop for a combined fee of £9m. Naughton had been a first-team regular at Bramall Lane with Walker as his understudy, but things were about to change at their new club.

What happened? Walker has gone from strength to strength, cementing his spot as England’s starting right-back and is now being linked with a £40m move to Manchester City.

Naughton’s stay in London was not as successful, but a move to Swansea in 2015 has ensured that he is a Premier League regular.

Naughton
Getty Images

Verdict While their careers have maybe gone in different directions, there can be little doubt that their moves to Tottenham have been hugely beneficial to their careers.

Right move

Michael Woods and Tom Taiwo (Leeds to Chelsea)

Woods
Getty Images

Then: At just 16, Woods and Taiwo were central to a tapping-up scandal when Ken Bates accused his former club of approaching the young talents without permission. Eventually the London club had to pay £5m for their services, and they were put straight into the youth ranks at Stamford Bridge.

What happened? Predictably, neither player saw any league action for the club and are now plying their trade at Hartlepool and Falkirk respectively, having played for a variety of clubs in England and Scotland.

Taiwo
Getty Images

Woods did make it onto the pitch for Chelsea, replacing Frank Lampard in an FA Cup tie against Macclesfield Town.

Verdict: It’s hard to say that this was a bad move for either player due to the level of coaching that they would have received at Chelsea, yet their stories are ones of untapped potential, and this may not have been the case had they stayed put.

Should have stayed

Carl Jenkinson (Charlton to Arsenal)

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Then: Another Charlton academy graduate who looked to make a move early in his career, Jenkinson made just eight appearances for the club before moving to Arsenal, the team he supported, for £1m in June 2011 aged 19.

What happened? There was general confusion about the transfer seeing as the Finnish youth international had not been a prominent prospect at Charlton, yet he performed admirably when called upon by Wenger. In 2012 he even won an England cap under Roy Hodgson.

Two loan spells at West Ham followed and now, back at Arsenal, it is unclear what the future holds for the right-back.

Verdict: This was unquestionably a dream move for Jenkinson and, although his long-term future may not lie at The Emirates, it was certainly the correct decision to go.

Right move

Final Say

There is no doubt that an early move up the football pyramid has kick-started some young players' careers in the past, even if their long-term future has not been at the club they moved to.

The constant theme seems to be first-team minutes, with those who are dropped straight in the deep-end seemingly coping far better than the players loaned back out on arrival.

Given Sessegnon's status in the Fulham squad, and the form of Tottenham's Danny Rose, it looks like he has made the smart call by staying at Craven Cottage for the time being.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in