Fulham Boss Tips Ryan Sessegnon To Make England Squad

Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic has tipped Ryan Sessegnon to make the England World Cup after showing extreme progress over the past 18 months. The 17-year-old continued his fine vein of form with his 10th goal in 12 games versus Derby County this weekend, and this sees Fulham within five points off the automatic promotion places, though with an additional game played.

In a report covered by Sky Sports, Jokanovic fancies the teenager in the Three Lions’ colours at the World Cup, given he has managed to mature at such a tender age. Should Sessegnon be ignored for Russia, the manager fancies him to earn a maiden call-up for the next European tournament, he said:“I started working with him when he was 16 years and two months or something like that and I believe he can be part of the English national team for the World Cup. I cannot recommend him to people but nobody can make mistakes with this kid. Experience is important but he is a really expert player for his age at this moment. I will repeat, if the national team don't take this decision this time, they will push him for the next European tournament.”

The likes of Michael Owen and Theo Walcott are some of the notable players to have made their World Cup bow as a teenager, and the latter happened to earn the chance, having not played a single Premier League game. Walcott, then 16, had only made 13 appearances in his professional career, but the promise encouraged Sven-Goran Eriksson to have a punt with the teenager.
Southgate is expected to name his Three Lions squad for the upcoming friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy, and it will be interesting to see whether he will make a couple of surprise inclusions into the squad. The likes of Jack Wilshere and Ben Mee have been touted for potential call-ups of late.