Southampton are believed to be interested in securing Tottenham Hotspur’s Ryan Sessegnon on a season-long loan deal.
According to the Athletic¸ Southampton and Hertha Berlin are keen on the 20-year-old who could be looking for regular first-team football away from Spurs this season.
This would be an interesting deal from Southampton’s perspective given the relative strength in Sessegnon’s positions even despite the versatility of the former Fulham wonderkid.
Able to play anywhere down the left-hand side, Sessegnon would have to contend with Ryan Bertrand at left-back while Nathan Redmond, Moussa Djenepo and even Sofiane Boufal are currently battling for the place in left midfield.
The key difference between those midfielders and Sessegnon is that Southampton’s current crop are all right footed, whereas the Spurs youngster provides a different option, preferring his left-side.
Depth already exists down the left
At left-back, Ralph Hasenhuttl also already has fellow 20-year-old Jake Vokins at his disposal, with the Saints academy product having signed a new long-term contract over the summer.
Sessegnon played only six times for Tottenham in the Premier League this season in his first season at the club having spent the previous campaign loaned back to Fulham.
His 16 goals and eight assists in 2017/18 resulted in somewhat realistic shouts for him to join the England squad at the World Cup at the end of the season and had his name linked with a host of Europe’s top clubs.
But he failed to emulate those numbers amidst the pressure of the Premier League, with only two goals and six assists as the Cottagers were quite comfortably relegated from the top flight after just one season back.
His link to Southampton is an interesting one. Right midfield so far has been a problem area for Hasenhuttl’s side with the likes of Will Smallbone and Stuart Armstrong playing there so far, when for both of those players their best form often comes when playing through the middle.
Versatility is always a valuable asset to a manager, and if Hasenhuttl sees Sessegnon fitting in on the right then this move could make a lot of sense and be a big success for the Saints.
He has undeniable quality and proved it again before the season began with a couple of glittering performances on Young Lions duty.
At the moment it remains unclear if there would be a permanent purchase option as part of any temporary deal that may go through, which may make more sense as a long-term project rather than what would appear to be a temporary fix in a not necessarily natural role for him.
This signing would fail to address the more pressing issue of a replacement for former club captain Pierre Emile Hojbjerg, with James Ward-Prowse and Oriol Romeu at present appearing the only two senior players in the middle of the pitch.
Are there more pressing transfers for Southampton to attend to?
The club reportedly missed out on top target Ibrahim Sangare who chose PSV Eindhoven as his preferred destination after leaving Ligue 2 side Toulouse.
A loan swoop for Sessegnon would be fairly low risk, but at this point Southampton would be expected to be beyond making a low risk signing for the sake of it.
If the club really envisages a climb to the top half and European places in the league over the next couple of seasons, then the transfer business needs to reflect that, and Sessegnon wouldn’t necessarily be a signing that sends that kind of message.
Perhaps, if he were to arrive at St. Mary’s, the move would see a shift in tactical system to accommodate his arrival, but that seems unlikely.
A versatile option good enough for the Premier League, yes. But a necessary signing and one that makes sense for the player in being motivated to play week in, week out, perhaps not.