Fulham chairman Shahid Khan has insisted that Ryan Sessegnon will not be leaving Craven Cottage as he focuses on helping the Whites ‘get better’ ahead of their return to the Premier League.
In his first interview since Fulham’s victory over Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final at Wembley, Khan told the Times that the club would fiercely resist any approaches for their teenage sensation:
We don’t want Sessegnon leaving. I don’t think he wants to go. He’s going to be at Fulham for the coming year, leading us into the Premier League. Frankly, if we had not been promoted, well, we have a responsibility to our players. He’s been there since he was eight. We want to do the right thing for him and he is Fulham through and through. He is going to be there next season.
I can tell you with certainty he’s going to be at Fulham because it’s good for him and good for us. We want him to stay, period. Last year there was a lot of talk about Tom Cairney leaving and Ryan too but we kept the team together and the only players that were sold [Sone Aluko and Scott Malone] we got above market price for them but we turned right around and invested in players that have helped the club, like Aboubakar Kamara.
Sessegnon, who scored sixteen goals in 52 appearances for Slavisa Jokanovic’s side and laid on Saturday’s winner for skipper Cairney with a superb through ball, has been the subject of fevered speculation since breaking into the Fulham side as a 16 year-old at the start of last season but insisted after the final that he would be remaining with the Whites ‘100%’.
Khan also revealed that he would be making significant finance available for Jokanovic to invest in his playing squad over the summer as they bid to back Fulham’s popular head coach in the transfer market.
I’ve already given him the answer — before Saturday. We are not just going to scrape by, we want to get better. This is the time to have the productive discussion about who is available. There is this concept of splashing cash. You have to invest but just lighting money on fire doesn’t win Championships. Being irresponsible doesn’t help you win. We’re going to do whatever helps us win and if it involves money then we’re not spendthrifts.
