Slavisa Jokanovic has revealed how Ryan Sessegnon has put on seven kilograms of muscle since he started working with Fulham’s first-team aged 15.
The 18-year-old did not make his first-team debut for the club until he was 16 but went on to become a regular feature in the side that finished sixth in the Championship that season. His next campaign was even better, finishing the season as Fulham’s top scorer, playing in every game as the Cottagers were promoted to the Premier League via the playoffs, where he had a hand in each of the goals scored in their playoff campaign.
One thing that has stood out about Sessegnon is his physical capability – there are not many 18-year-olds who are able to show the recovery and physicality to play every single game in the second tier of English football, and it is something that Huw Jennings, Fulham’s academy director, has mentioned in past, saying he is the exception to the rule.
He has coped well with the physical demands of the Premier League so far too – and Jokanovic believes you can be impressed with the physical difference in Sessegnon’s body between when he started working with the team and now.
He said: “Definitely he can play better. I had an opportunity to observe him all the days, some people are thinking he’s a winger and some think he’s a full-back. He can play perfectly in both positions.
“You can be impressed with physical performance of this man. He is clinical in the opposite box and can score goals easy. Somebody says he is not strong enough to be a defender and they are completely wrong.
“He’s actually right now seven kilograms bigger a man than when he started working with us, that’s seven kilograms of muscle on his body. You can detect a big difference. I don’t know a winger or a defender who is stronger who can stop him. He must use this power in a legal way, with the experience he will use the body, use more physical contact.
“It’s weird we are talking about an 18-year-old player. I try talking about this when you are talking about men. At 18 you can choose what you believe. He’s a kid with a body like a man.”
